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Eskimo Island 
and 

Penguin Land 
















They Looked a Very Bold and Imposing Company 
(From ihe Story to Catch Sheathbill) 




































Es\imo Island 
and 

Penguin Land 



By Roy J. Snell 

Illustrated by Cobb X. Shinn 


Albert Whitman & Company 

Publishers 




Chicago 


U. S. A. 



COPYRIGHT 1924, 1928 
BY ALBERT WHITMAN & COMPANY 



ROY J. SNELL 
SKIMMER THE DARING 
ICEBOUND IN THE SOUTH POLAR SEAS 
THE DINNER THAT WAS ALWAYS THERE 
LITTLE BOY FRANCE 


■> 


A JUST RIGHT BOOK 
PRINTED IN THE U. S. A. 


Oci A1077956 

JUN 22 1928 















To All Boys and Girls 

Who Like to Read of Distant Lands and Strange People 
This Book Is Dedicated 




CONTENTS 



BOOK ONE 

Page 

THE BABY LAUGHING LOON, THE PUFFINS AND 


THE HUNTER. 7 

TOMMIE SPECKS, GRAY GEESE AND THE CRANE. 15 

MOTHER SPECKS’ NEST . 24 

THE TOMCOD FAMILY REUNION. 32 

TOMMY DISCOVERS OLD SEA SERPENT. 38 

BABY LAUGHING LOON STRAYS AWAY. 46 

PIRATES SPOIL THE PUFFIN CONCERT. 53 

LITTLE BABY LAUGHING LOON LEARNS TO PLAY 

SUBMARINE . 61 

PHILANDER GRAY GOOSE AND DUNGEMESS CRAB 70 

STATELY MISS SWAN. 78 

LITTLE MISS SNOW BUNTING. 87 

OLD TRAMP STORMY PETREL. 97 

LITTLE BABY LAUGHING LOON MEETS LITTLE 

BROWN SEAL.104 

PIRATES AGAIN .112 

GOD’S GREAT MOVING PICTURES.121 



































CONTENTS 



BOOK TWO 


Page 

STORMY PETREL . 7 

STORMY PETREL LOST. 14 

STORMY AT THE BIG CANAL. 18 

GOING SOUTH INTO THE COLD. 26 

HUSKIE, AN OLD FRIEND. 33 

PENGUIN VILLAGE. 43 

THE SNOW STORM. 52 

ARRIVAL OF THE ADELIE PENGUINS. 60 

THE POLICEWOMAN . 68 

SHEATHBILL, THE ROBBER. 76 

TO CATCH SHEATHBILL. 85 

INTO THE ROBBER’S DEN. 91 

THE STRANGE MOTHERS. 98 

THE SEA LEOPARD.105 

OLD GIANT WHALE.112 

SAFE AT HOME.118 

TO MIGRATE HOME.123 
























In they plunged. 

(From Philander Gray Goose and Dungemess Crab) 




















































THE BABY LAUGHING LOON, THE 
PUFFINS AND THE HUNTER 

Were Little Baby Laughing Loon here, 
she could tell us in her way that on the 
sunny slopes of Eskimo Island there are the 
most wonderful wild-flower gardens that 
almost anyone ever saw! In this far northern 
country where there are months and months 
of night all in one long period of time, with 
7 










8 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


no sun at all, and where it is so cold that the 
icicles on the eaves do not drip for eight 
months long! This doesn’t seem possible, 
to many of us. But it is true just the same, 
for Little Baby Laughing Loon saw them as 
she went for a walk on the hillside. It 
seems that when the sun did come out he 
must have felt sorry for the poor cold world 
and just as fast as he could spare the time 
he stayed longer and longer until at last 
he just didn’t go to bed at all, but just 
stayed around and warmed up the earth 
and melted the snow and had the flower beds 
all ready; and before one would ever think 
it possible there they were—thousands and 
thousands of flowers; red and blue and pink 
and crimson, tossing their heads merrily in 
the sunshine! There never was a wild prairie 
full of cowslips and buttercups, shooting 
stars and lady slippers, that could compare 
with it, nor was any deep wooded garden 
full of anemonies and spring beauties its 
equal. 




THE PUFFINS AND THE HUNTER 


9 


This day Baby Loon walked among them 
they had just washed their faces in a fresh 
cloud bank, and my! how finely they did 
nod their heads! 

“Good morning, good morning, every¬ 
body!” exclaimed Baby in bird talk, as she 
trudged along. “How are you all today?” 
She couldn’t call them all by name, for no 
white man had seen them all to give them 
names, and the Eskimo people use many 
names for their own children. Baby didn’t 
mind that. She just trotted along happily, 
while hundreds of Puffins whirled by just 
over her head, practicing a song for their 
next grand concert. 

While Baby Loon was among the flowers 
something strange happened on Eskimo 
Island that very day. The Puffin chorus 
were flying through the air having a fine 
time while they practiced the new chorus. 
If anyone on the hill above had been 
watching very, very closely they would have 
noticed that every now and then, as the 
Puffins skimmed along close to the ground, 




10 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


some of them closest to the ground stopped 
suddenly as if they had struck something. 
They seemed to flutter there for a moment 
and then all together, three or four, or as 
many as ten of them, would go flop! to 
the ground, and though they seemed to be 
struggling to rise, they didn’t leave the 
ground. Now, that would have looked very 
strange to the watcher. If he knew Little 
Baby Laughing Loon very well and had 
liked her as well as we would be certain 
to do, he would have hurried to her down 
there among the flowers and told her what 
he had seen and warned her not to go any 
farther. But the watcher was not there, so 
Little Baby Laughing Loon walked on and 
on, still nodding to the flowers and saying, 
“Good morning, good morning, everybody! 
How are you today?” Every now and then 
down would go more of the little Puffin 
folks, only to struggle and rise and to fall. 

So Baby marched sturdily on and on until 
at last she was quite above the flower beds 
and was thinking of going back, when Zing! 




THE PUFFINS AND THE HUNTER 


11 


something tumbled down on her head! It 
didn’t seem very heavy. Perhaps it was just 
a clump of flowers that had been blown 
there by the wind. That was the way Baby 
thought about it, and she wasn’t very much 
frightened at first; yet when she started to 
rise she found she couldn’t, for though the 
thing was not heavy, it seemed bound tight 
to the ground and she could not budge. 
Then she was frightened! She twisted her 
head about and looked around her. Right 
close to her was one of the gay little Puffin 
singers. He was bound to the earth, too. 

“Hello,” said Baby in bird talk. “What 
has happened to us?” 

“It’s Omnok, the Eskimo hunter s terrible 
net!” exclaimed the little Puffin sadly. “I 
didn’t see it till it was too late. I ran right 
into it, and so did some of the others. It 
flopped right down upon us and here we 
are. By and by Omnok will come around 
and put us in a close, evil-smelling sack, 
and then tomorrow he will make food of 
us for his family. I suppose we shouldn’t 




12 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


blame him, for if he did not hunt and fish 
his family would starve, for this country 
will not raise corn and potatoes, wheat and 
sugar cane, as other lands. It will raise 
only flowers.” 

“Can’t we get away?” asked Baby hope¬ 
fully. “I’m going to try, anyway.” 

“You might just as well while you may,” 
said the little singer. “The net is very 
strong.” 

Indeed, Baby found this quite true, for 
it was made of fine threads of sealskin. She 
struggled and struggled toward the edge of 
the net, and at last she was one mesh nearer 
the edge. She kept struggling and again 
was two meshes nearer, then three, then 
four, and very soon she was very near the 
edge; right alongside, in fact. The outside 
strand of the net was very much larger than 
the others, and stretched very, very tight. 
Struggle as she might, she could not even 
so much as get her head under it. 

“It is too bad!” said the little singer. 








Can't we get away? 


13 



— 

. 


. 


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— —, 


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14 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


But Baby Loon did not give up. She 
just lay there quite still, and when Omnok 
the hunter came along you might have 
thought she was a stone or a block of drift¬ 
wood. Omnok came closer and closer. 
Every now and then he lifted the net and 
took a Puffin from beneath it. Then he 
would come a little closer to Baby and stop 
again. He was getting very, very close. 
We can be sure that he hadn’t seen Baby 
or he wouldn’t have done as he did. For 
he lifted the net to take a Puffin out and 
raised it quite high for a second. A second 
was enough, for Zip! out whirled Baby 
Laughing Loon and away she flew like a 
streak. 

“Ah-ne-ca!” exclaimed Omnok. “I have 
lost the best one of all. She would have 
made me a good meal all by herself. I 
wonder how she came so close to the edge 
of the net?” Baby Laughing Loon knew 
how she came there and she was glad. She 
had done the best she could under the worst 
circumstances, but she was very, very sorry 
for her friends, the little Puffin singers. 




TOMMIE SPECKS, GRAY GEESE AND 
THE CRANE 





There was a great company of the young 
bird people gathered on the Eskimo Island 
beach that day. There was Little Baby 
Laughing Loon with her brother and sister; 
there were Tommie Specks and his sister 
of the Eider Duck family, and there were 
the six Gray Goose children who had re¬ 
cently come to the island. They had all 
played until they were quite tired out; then 
they had found a sheltered place between 
two rocks where the sun peeped warmly 
through, and where the sand was warm and 
IS 





16 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


dry. There they were having a very fine 
time drying themselves and brushing the 
sand off their feathers. 

Tommie Specks was making himself quite 
mean, as he often did, by strutting about 
and showing off his splendid bathing suit 
and his wonderful broad-rimmed glasses. 
“See! See!” he seemed to exclaim, as 
through his glasses he looked in an over- 
proud way at the newly arrived Gray Goose 
children. “Look! Look! What very plain¬ 
looking folks they are!” Now, of course, 
this made the other bird folks very much 
ashamed, for they liked the odd little 
strangers. As for the Goose children, they 
did not enjoy being made fun of. Then 
suddenly there marched in among them 
another stranger, who was to receive some 
of Tommie Speck’s joking comments. 

Tommie just stood and stared at the 
strange bird for a full moment before he 
was able to say a word. Such an odd bird 
this stranger was, anyway! He was almost 
as tall as the rocks beside which they were 




































18 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


resting, and as for being slim, it was true 
there wasn’t a bird among them who was 
half as high as this stranger, for, of course, 
it is well known how plump young Duck 
folks and young Gray Goose folks are, and 
Little Baby Laughing Loon was of just the 
same kind. But as for this stranger—why, 
if they had known anything about living 
skeletons they would have called him that 
at the first glance. 

“Look!” exclaimed Tommie, but that was 
as far as he could go because of his aston¬ 
ishment. 

The .stranger was as awkward as he 
looked, every bit of it! When he stooped 
to get a better look at the other bird folks 
he really looked as if he might fall over; 
and to make matters more strange, he drew 
one of his long legs up under his ragged 
coat, which was not a bathing suit at all, 
but a kind of a great storm coat. They all 
thought he would surely fall over, but he 
didn’t. He just stood there on one foot and 




GRAY GEESE AND THE CRANE 


19 


swallowed his Adam’s apple one or two 
times, then he said: 

“My name’s Dannie Whooping Crane. 
Want to hear me whoop?’’ 

He didn’t wait for them to say yes or no, 
but just opened his mouth and gave six of 
the loudest whoops one ever heard: “Hoop! 
Hoop! Who-oop! Who-o-op! Who-oo-oop! 
Who-ooo-ooop! ’ ’ 

“Well! Well!’’ exclaimed Tommie. His 
spectacles were on crosswise, but he was so 
excited that he did not know it. 

The stranger swallowed his Adam’s apple 
four more times, then he stood there awk¬ 
wardly as could be, and nobody seemed able 
to say one word. 

Just then another stranger came around 
the corner who was not half as welcome as 
Dannie Whooping Crane. A black, black 
nose, very sharp and very keen, was fol¬ 
lowed by two cruel eyes and some sharp 
and terrible teeth. Old Black Fox was 
standing grinning an ugly grin at all the 
little folks, and here they were shut in on 




20 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


all sides by the rocks except on the side 
where he stood! The birds did not know 
what to do. If they started to fly he would 
snap them up by the heels and toss them 
right over his back. If they tried to reach 
the ocean, right there he was ready to seize 
them by the neck! Here was a terrible 
situation, indeed! Tommie Specks didn’t 
seem to know any more what to do than 
the rest. Indeed, he tried to hide behind 
Little Baby Laughing Loon. Little Baby 
Laughing Loon and the new Goose children 
were afraid, but they stood right in their 
places and tried to act not a bit frightened. 

Dannie Whooping Crane hadn’t moved, 
either. He hadn’t even put his other foot 
on the ground. The one which was down 
didn’t tremble the least bit, either. For 
quite a while Black Fox didn’t seem to 
notice him. Perhaps he took his leg for a 
bit of driftwood sticking up in the sand. 
But when Dannie made a little gurgling 
sound in his throat, Black Fox looked up 
surprised, and when he saw who it was he 





Black Fox didn’t seem to notice him. 

21 


/ 













































































































22 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


seemed more surprised than ever. Indeed, 
strange to tell, he seemed to remember that 
he had important business on some other 
part of the island, for he turned right about 
and trotted away! 

For two or three moments nobody said 
a word. At last Tommie Specks stepped 
out from behind Little Baby Laughing Loon, 
and, looking through his glasses, said, “Well, 
well, what were you all frightened at? You 
didn’t think he’d dare attack all of us at 
once? Not, while I was around he wouldn’t.” 

But all the bird folks were looking up at 
Dannie Whooping Crane, who had not yet 
put his other foot down on the sand. He 
didn’t say a word, but just looked at some 
clams on a rock which the little bird folks 
had been trying to eat, but couldn’t, because 
their shells were too hard. Then he stooped 
over and gave a clam one crack with his 
long beak, and the clam burst right in two! 

“Well! Well! What a strong beak!” ex¬ 
claimed Tommie Specks, edging toward the 




GRAY GEESE AND THE CRANE 


23 


water. In a moment he splashed into the 
sea and disappeared ’round the corner. 

Dannie Whooping Crane just looked and 
cracked another clam. He cracked them 
and cracked them till there were quite 
enough for the whole company; then he 
went stalking away over a sand pile. 

“A very fine fellow!” exclaimed one of 
the Gray Goose children. 

“Not a bit proud, though he is so strong!” 
said Tommie Specks’ sister, who was not 
pleased that day at her over-proud brother, 
and quite pleased with the actions of the 
tall young bird stranger. 

That night, as she slept, Little Baby 
Laughing Loon dreamed that she was a big 
Black Fox and that Dannie Whooping Crane 
was trying to peck her eyes out with his 
long, strong beak. 




MOTHER SPECKS’ NEST 


“Hurrah! The day’s just right for a 
swim!’’ cheered Tommy Specks, as he 
turned a somersault from a rock into the 
sea. Tommy was dressed in his bathing 
suit, and a wonderful bathing suit it was, 
too. It looked like the downy edge of a 
silvery cloud sewed to a bit of the deep blue 
sky. And his cap was more wonderful still 
—the deep blue of a sea cave and the golden 
green of the sunset. Astride his nose were 
the widest rimmed spectacles that ever a 
boy gloried in. It was these spectacles, 
worn by all the men of his family, which 
gave the Specks their name. For Tommy 
was the youngest son of Madam Specks of 
the Spectacled Eider Duck family. 

24 


MOTHER SPECKS’ NEST 


25 


“Yes,” Tommy’s mother agreed; “the day 
is just right, and you may take your sister 
for a romp on the waves.” 

Now, a romp on the waves on such a day 
was as much fun as a Fourth of July picnic, 
for there had been a great storm on the 
Arctic Sea and now the waves were rolling 
gloriously. Away scampered the children, 
and Mother Specks settled herself down on 
her nest for the day. 

Mother Specks, however, had been alone 
a very short time when she, too, became 
restless. There was no reason at all why 
she might not go for a little swim herself 
to catch a red-faced shrimp or two for her 
breakfast. Her eggs would not get cold, 
for had she not torn her heavy winter coat 
into little downy bits and covered her eggs 
deep, deep with it? And so, giving her 
nest a little tuck here and there, she glided 
down to the water’s edge and was soon 
enjoying a fine plunge. 

As Mother Specks made her third dive, 
who should come along but Miss Swan? 




26 THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 



Miss Swan had not yet gone to housekeep¬ 
ing. Her mother thought her too young 
for that. But she was very large, much 
larger than Mother Specks, and far too 
sedate and graceful to play with the smaller 
youngsters. 

“Good morning,” she said, bending her 
graceful neck in a stately bow. “How are 
your eggs?” 

“Doing nicely, indeed,” replied Mother 
Specks, bowing as gracefully as she could; 
“I have them well covered and am going 
for a bit of a swim.” 

“You won’t leave them long, will you?” 
inquired Miss Swan anxiously. “I beg your 







MOTHER SPECKS’ NEST 


27 


pardon—I recall now that the Family of 
Specks have a very deft way of covering 
your eggs. It is too bad that we have never 
learned it..’ 

“Oh, yes, they will do very well for an 
hour or so,’’ said Mother Specks, pleased at 
the compliment. “How is your mother? 
As beautiful and graceful as ever?’’ 

So Mrs. Specks and Miss Swan were 
enjoying each other’s company very much 
when someone presently came in sight round 
the point. Indeed, it was no other than our 
old friend Little Red Fox! He and his 
mother had followed Big White Bear across 
the ice during the winter and had come over 
to Eskimo Island to live. The bird folks 
didn’t welcome them very heartily. 

Mother Specks watched Little Red Fox 
very sharply as he drew near her nest. 

“He looks like a very dangerous fellow,” 
said Miss Swan. “I shouldn’t wonder one 
bit if he were a meddlesome thief.” 




28 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


“Some of his folks are,” replied Mrs. 
Specks mildly, “but he is young. Let’s not 
judge him too harshly.’’ 

When Little Red Fox discovered that 
wonderful downy nest, he was delighted. 
Never before had he seen anything that 
looked so comfortable. He was tired, and 
here was the very place for a good rest. 
Ah-ha! when he touched the nest with the 
tip of his toe, how warm it felt! What a 
wonderful find it was. If he had not been 
so tired he might have smelled the eggs at 
once and got himself into trouble; but as it 
was, he just curled up in the nest in a little 
ball and in second was fast asleep. 

Mrs. Specks and Miss Swan had been 
watching him closely all this time. 

“If I were you, I should go right up there 
and make him leave,’’ declared Miss Swan 
decidedly. 

“Oh, I think that is hardly necessary,’’ 
said Mother Specks cheerfully. “He won’t 
do any harm, he’s such a little fellow; and 
besides,’’ she added, “if he keeps the eggs 




MOTHER SPECKS’ NEST 


29 


warm, I shan’t have to, and can stay for a 
longer swim.” 

Miss Swan said no more, but felt very 
much worried over the eggs. It nearly 
spoiled her visit, for in spite of herself she 
kept looking up to the place where Little 
Red Fox was sleeping on Mother Specks’ 
nest. 

“Oh, Mrs. Specks!” she called at last. 

Little Red Fox, wakened very much re¬ 
freshed from his nap in the cozy nest, and 
the same mischievous Little Red Fox of 
old, had smelled the eggs under the fine 
covering and was tossing that splendid cov¬ 
ering to the winds fast as his nimble toes 
could fly! 

With wild screams, Mother Specks dashed 
through the water and up over the sand as 
fast as her trembling legs could carry her. 
Her screams, however, were as much lost on 
Little Red Fox as if he had been deaf. 
Mrs. Specks’ legs were trembling, not from 
fear, but from anger, as Little Red Fox 
found out soon enough. And as there isn’t 




30 THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 



In a minute Little Red Fox was racing away. 


any one in the world who can box ears 
better than Mother Specks when she gets 
started, she made good work of it. In a 
minute Little Red Fox was racing away 
home, wondering if his head were really 
broken. 

Poor Mother Specks! She hurriedly gath¬ 
ered up all the pieces of her warm winter 
coat that she could find, but they had been 
blown far and wide, and most of them had 
tumbled into the sea and been carried away. 
There were hardly enough left to cover the 
eggs and not nearly enough to keep them 
really warm. 

















MOTHER SPECKS’ NEST 


31 


“Serves me right!” she sighed at last, as 
she settled down once more on her nest. “I 
should not have trusted someone else to do 
my work. Now I shall have to miss all my 
fine swims till these eggs are hatched, and 
like as not I’ll go hungry many times 
besides.” 

Miss Swan, as she swam away, thought 
about Mrs. Specks’ disturbed nest. Then she 
sailed away quickly for home to see how 
her own patient mother was getting along 
with her housekeeping. 









THE TOMCOD FAMILY REUNION 



While Mother Specks was having her 
pleasant chat with Miss Swan and her dis¬ 
tressing experience with that young rascal, 
Little Red Fox, her children were having 
fun out on the great rolling sea, sliding 
down this wave and that one. 

Down in the valley, between two waves, 
they had discovered a little playmate. Miss 
Puffin was her name. She was a very plain 
little body, with a dull drab bathing suit 
and a very large nose, but she soon proved 
32 


THE TOMCOD FAMILY REUNION 


33 


to be as friendly as she was plain, and the 
three were having a joyous time coasting 
on the waves. 

“Listen!” said little Miss Puffin suddenly, 
as she reached the bottom of a wave. “I 
think I hear voices.” 

Miss Specks listened sharply. It might 
be the voices of Ivory Sea Gull and his pirate 
crowd, she thought. 

“Yes, I hear them, too,” she said, “many, 
many little voices. They must be down in 
the sea.” 

True enough, as they looked into the blue 
water, they saw hundreds of little people 
swimming about, all talking as loudly as 
they could, and all talking at once. It was 
the Tomcod family, gathered for a reunion. 

“Hush!” cautioned Miss Puffin. “They 
are talking about where they will hold their 
celebration.” 

They held their breath, listening, and this 
is what they heard: “I think under the 
great brown rock is the place.” 




34 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


“No, no, you’re wrong, all wrong! Over 
on the sand bar’s the place.” 

“No! No! What do you fellows know 
about it? Over in the seaweed grove’s the 
very place! There we have shade and plenty 
of sand grass.” 

“You’re all wrong—” and so on and on 
they went, all talking at once, just because 
they had no leader. 

“What a silly, foolish crowd they are!” 
said Miss Specks. “I feel sorry for them. 
People like that very often get into a great 
deal of trouble because they have no one 
to lead them.” 

The Tomcod reunion party soon drifted 
out of sight and the three friends went on 
with their play. They had just reached the 
crest of a splendid wave when the water 
suddenly turned dark, as if a cloud were 
passing over the sky. They looked up, but 
there wasn’t a cloud to be seen and they 
were wondering what had happened, when 
up spouted a great rush of water from the 




THE TOMCOD FAMILY REUNION 


35 



/ just had to sprout that water out. 


sea, tossing them high in the air and fright¬ 
ening them nearly out of their wits. 

“What’s that!’’ screamed Miss Specks in 
terror, as she tumbled back into the ocean 
with her bathing suit sadly mussed. 

“Pardon me!’’ came a great, heavy voice. 
There, with his head out of the water, was 
the biggest fish they had ever seen—the 
biggest, indeed, that anybody in all the world 
has even seen. “I didn’t mean to disturb 
you,” apologized Old Giant Whale. “But 
you see I just had to spout that water out, 
and I didn’t know you were there.’’ 




36 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


“Oh, I see,” said Miss Specks, with a sigh 
of relief; “you had to breathe, so you came 
up and spouted all the air out of your lungs 
at once and that is what gave us such a 
tumble.” 

“That’s just where you’re wrong, and a 
lot of other people are wrong, too,” Old 
Giant Whale corrected her. “1 don’t spout 
when I breathe. It is only when I need more 
room in my banquet hall that I spout the 
water out. Now, just a moment ago, for 
instance, the Tomcod family reunion party 
came along and were all mixed up about 
where they should hold their reunion. I 
just opened up the door to my banquet hall 
and said, ‘Please, folks, won’t you step 
inside?’ and inside they stepped. Then, of 
course, I had to spout out the water so 
there’d be room for them all.” 

“My!” said Miss Specks, after a moment’s 
thought, “I think I’d rather not go to a 
reunion in your banquet hall!” 

“There isn’t much danger of it,” Old 
Giant Whale reassured her, with a ponderous 




THE TOMCOD FAMILY REUNION 


37 


wink of his oily eye. “Folks with good 
parents and advisers seldom rent it, and I 
am told you have a very wise mother.” 

“You’re quite right—she’s a very wise 
mother, indeed,” said Miss Specks proudly, 
“and I must be going back to her very soon, 
for it is nearly time for lunch.” 

With that, Miss Specks returned to her 
friends for one more good romp. She could 
not help thinking, however, of the unfortu¬ 
nate plight of the Tomcod reunion party, 
and wondering whether Old Giant Whale 
would ever open the door of his banquet 
hall and let them out. Somehow she felt 
quite sure that he never would. 













































































TOMMY DISCOVERS OLD SEA 
SERPENT 



After Old Giant Whale disappeared under 
the water, Miss Specks and her brother 
Tommy and their friend Miss Puffin invented 
a new game. It was called “dive deeper 
than you can.” Miss Puffin couldn’t play 
it nearly as well as the other two, for they 
were the most skillful divers among all the 
families who had their homes on Eskimo 
Island. But she was a cheerful body and 
did the best she could. She seemed to enjoy 
the sport quite as much as her friends. 


38 













TOMMY DISCOVERS OLD SEA SERPENT 39 


Tommy could dive straight down and pick 
up a shrimp twenty feet below the surface 
of the water, and his sister could do almost 
as well, sometimes quite as well, so among 
them they had a great time. 

As the two young ladies were preparing 
for their final dive before going home, one 
which they were quite sure was going to be 
the very best yet, Tommy’s eyes seemed 
suddenly to pop out of his head, and with 
a gulp he cried, “Old Sea Serpent!” diving 
with a mighty splash. 

“Sea Serpent!” echoed Miss Specks, fol¬ 
lowing him. 

“Sea Serpent,” murmured Miss Puffin, 
almost too scared to move, but diving after 
them at last. 

It is told that of all the folks that are sup¬ 
posed to live in the great, broad ocean, Old 
Sea Serpent is the most to be feared. Old 
Giant Whale, who can turn a boat upside 
down in a jiffy; Tusks the Walrus, who can 
tear up a boat with his great powerful 




40 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


tusks; Mr. Shark, with his rows and rows 
of terrible teeth—none of these is so terrible 
as Old Sea Serpent. Nobody has ever really 
caught any member of Old Sea Serpent’s fam¬ 
ily, but many and many a seaman sailing 
the silent sea, has declared he has caught 
sight of him, and we may feel certain it 
is just because he has never been caught 
that Old Sea Serpent seems so terrible. All 
the little sea folk are as much afraid of him 
as sailors are, and the hearts of our three 
young bird friends were beating very, very 
fast at the thought of meeting this dreadful 
monster face to face. True, no one but 
Tommy had seen him, but Tommy had 
looked so scared that the others had never 
thought of doubting that he had actually 
glimpsed the sea fellow. 

They couldn’t stay under water very long, 
however, for the sea bird folk can’t hold their 
breath nearly so long as Little Brown Seal or 
Tusks the Walrus. And of course they 
couldn’t talk, either. They could only make 
signs and talk with their eyes. As soon as 




TOMMY DISCOVERS OLD SEA SERPENT 41 


Miss Specks had recovered a little from her 
fright she began to doubt whether, after all, 
Old Sea Serpent really was about. Presently 
she said with her eyes, “I’m going to get my 
breath and see if he is really there.” 

Up she went. And down she came again 
with only half a breath of air, her eyes bulg¬ 
ing just as Tommy’s had done and saying 
much more plainly than words: “Yes indeed! 
It is Old Sea Serpent, his very own self!” 

What were those three timid little people 
to do? There they were, down under the 
sea and not able to breathe at all, and yet 
afraid of their lives up where there was plenty 
of air! But Little Miss Puffin was a very 
strong hearted young person, so she finally 
decided to go up and see for herself. Back 
she came, too, with the very same story to 
tell. 

“Yes indeed!” she said in the sign language, 
“I saw him too. There were his great, white 
fearful fangs and his awful mouth; and there 
was one hump, two humps, three humps on 
his back, and then there was his awful tail.” 




42 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


By this time they just had to have some 
air, so they decided to all go to the surface 
together. If they had to be eaten, they might 
as well be eaten all at once. So up the three 
went, and down they dove again, just as 
frightened as ever. 

“Did you see him?” Miss Specks signaled. 

“Yes, indeed!” said Tommy. “And there 
were four humps on his back!” 

“Four humps!” signaled Miss Puffin. “I 
saw only three.” 

“You’re both wrong!” signaled Miss 
Specks. “There were five!” 

“No,” Tommy signaled emphatically, 
“only four!” 

Tommy didn’t settle the matter, however, 
not certain, for Miss Specks was sure there 
were five humps and Miss Puffin was equally 
sure there were only three. Miss Puffin, 
plain and timid as she was, could be very 
positive when she felt sure she was right. 

About that time a strange thing happened. 
When the three little comrades began to ar~ 




TOMMY DISCOVERS OLD SEA SERPENT 43 


gue about the number of humps they forgot 
all about their fright and decided to go up 
and find out who was right. So up they 
came, each determined to stay long enough 
to see for himself, and stay up they did, 
though they were afraid. 

“There, I knew I was right—there are 
three!” cried Miss Puffin. 

“There, I am right—there are four!” 
chimed in Tommy. 

“You’re both wrong, there are five!” 
shrieked Miss Specks. 

Then all three began to look and look; then 
they began to laugh, and they laughed, and 
laughed, and laughed. For Old Sea Serpent 
was just Tusks the Walrus and his four 
brothers playing sea serpent. Tusks, you 
see, would stand on his hind feet in the 
water and poke his head out, looking very 
fierce. At the same time his oldest brother 
would dive head first and leave just the bend 
of his body above the water to make one of 
the humps, the next three brothers made the 







—-—- 


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The terrible old Sea Serpent. 


44 


























































TOMMY DISCOVERS OLD SEA SERPENT 45 


other humps and the little brother diving and 
leaving his hind feet sticking out of the water 
close together, made the tail. 

That was the terrible Old Sea Serpent 
which had so frightened our little friends, 
and is probably the only sea serpent that 
the sailors and the little folks of the sea have 
ever seen. 

Miss Specks and Tommy and Miss Puffin 
were not angry with Tusks and his brothers, 
for though they had been frightened, they 
were very good natured, and they knew 
enough to take a joke. So the day being fine, 
they stayed and watched the antics of the 
big black brothers and admired their deep 
sea diving till the waves began to cast long, 
long shadows and they knew it was time for 
all young Bird people to hurry home. 




BABY LAUGHING LOON STRAYS 
AWAY 



Over on one corner of Eskimo Island, where 
the Specks family lived, there was a strange 
little hallway, long and narrow and all roofed 
over with grass and rushes. Mrs. Laughing 
Loon, who had built it, sat gazing down the 
narrow hallway to the edge of the sea, and 
smiling contentedly. Her nest was snug and 
safe, and every day she could slip down to 
the water for a bit of a swim. 

In a day or two some downy little folks 
would follow Mrs. Laughing Loon down that 
lane, to plunge with her into the sea. No 
wonder her heart was glad. Already under 
one wing she felt the movements of another 


46 


BABY LAUGHING LOON STRAYS AWAY 47 


baby Laughing Loon, and she felt sure there 
would be two more babies soon. But the 
day was warm for a world usually so cold, 
and in her cozy retreat she grew very drowsy. 
Her head nodded and nodded until it 
seemed as if her beautiful green cap must 
tumble off. Her graceful neck in its glis¬ 
tening collar bent, bent, and at last Mrs. 
Laughing Loon was fast asleep. 

From under Mrs. Laughing Loon’s wing 
there appeared a tiny head covered with a 
fuzzy-wuzzy, woolly-cotton hood. Baby 
Laughing Loon was taking her first look at 
the world. She thought it was a very long 
world indeed and a very narrow one, for 
all she could see was the long hallway. Pre¬ 
sently she crept out a little farther and again 
looked about. There seemed to be some¬ 
thing at the other end of the hallway, some¬ 
thing that murmured, murmured, murmured, 
and kept going “Swish, swish, swish!” She 
wondered what it was. Her mother was still 
asleep. She tried her legs and found they 
would hold her up and carry her about. She 




48 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


slipped from under her mother’s breast and 
went wandering down the hallway. 

Suddenly she saw a sharp pink nose poke 
its way through the wall and two pink eyes 
looked at her very sharply. Presently two 
white feet followed the pink nose and the 
pink eyes. Of course they belonged to our old 
friend, Little White Fox. That young scamp 
with his sharp nose and his twinkling eyes, 
was between Baby Laughing Loon, and her 
mother. What should she do? There was 
only one thing to do, and she did it at once: 
she ran to the end of the hallway and tumbled 
into the sea. 

Now Baby Laughing Loon didn’t know one 
thing about swimming, but somehow she 
found herself right side up in a moment, and 
in another second her feet were going swish, 
swish! through the water, just as if she had 
been swimming for ages and ages. And her 
fuzzy-wuzzy, woolly-cotton bathing suit kept 
her perfectly dry! 

Of course Mrs. Laughing Loon had 
wakened by this time and missed her baby, 




BABY LAUGHING LOON STRAYS AWAY 49 


and her heart was filled with worry for her 
baby bird. What could she do? Here were 
two other little folks just ready to break out 
of their shells, and if she left them to look 
for her wandering child they would become 
chilled and die. 

Out on the ocean, which seemed to grow 
broader and broader every moment, little 
Baby Laughing Loon was growing very, very 
lonesome indeed. She longed for her mother 
and yes, that surely was her mother, just 
over the third wave, and coming nearer. 
“How large she is,” thought Baby Laughing 
Loon in surprise. Then to her dismay this 
big mother began going away from her, and 
Baby Laughing Loon followed fast, as fast 
as ever she could. 

“What a strange foot my mother has!” she 
said to herself as she hurried along. “First 
she puts it out on one side of her and kicks, 
kicks, kicks, then she puts it out on the other 
side of her and kicks, kicks kicks. I am quite 
sure my feet do not go like that.” 




50 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


Just then this big mother turned her head 
and smiled at her and it was such a kind 
smile that Baby Laughing Loon was con¬ 
vinced that it really must be her mother. She 
was beginning to feel comfortable and sure 
that she would soon be once more under her 
mother’s breast, when very close to land this 
mother came right in two in the middle! 
Half of her stayed in one place and the other 
half went wandering around in the water. 
Then the half that had been closest to the 
water was picked up by the other half and 
carried right to the land. 

Baby Laughing Loon could hardly believe 
her eyes, and no wonder, for this remarkable 
“mother” was Kituk, the Eskimo boy. He 
had been paddling in his kiak boat, and it 
was his paddle that Baby Laughing Loon 
had thought was her mother’s foot. He got 
out of his kiak and carried it to shore. Then 
he looked at Baby Laughing Loon and 
laughed at her for following him. 




BABY LAUGHING LOON STRAYS AWAY 51 



Began to paddle away. 


“Well,” he said, “I think I know what to 
do with you—I’ll just lead you back to Eskimo 
Island.” 

He climbed into his kiak and began to 
paddle away, and sure enough, Baby Laugh¬ 
ing Loon once more thought he was her 
mother and went swimming after him. 

Soon they were at Eskimo Island, and there 
oh, joy! Baby Laughing Loon knew at last 
that this big thing was not her mother, for 
over there in a little quiet place was her very 
own mother, swimming round, and right by 
her side two little folks dressed all in fuzzy- 
wuzzy, woolly-cotton bathing suits. 

When the mother saw her lost baby and 
Kituk, how she did scream to her! And 
how fast they all did paddle away! 








52 THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


“They needn’t be so frightened,” said 
Kituk with a smile. “I wouldn’t hurt them.” 

Mrs. Laughing Loon had had sad experi¬ 
ences with some of Kituk’s relatives, and she 
cautioned her little daughter never, never to 
run away again. 















PIRATES SPOIL THE PUFFIN CONCERT 



The day was a glorious one for romping 
on the sea. Fluffy white clouds whisked 
across the blue sky, and the sea was even 
bluer than the sky, while everywhere little 
waves whispered, ‘‘Come in! Come in! Come 
in!” 

Little Baby Laughing Loon was happy as 
could be. She was all dressed up in her 
fuzzy- wuzzy, woolly-cotton bathing suit and 
was going to a wonderful concert. This time 


53 








54 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


she wasn’t going to become lost. Her mother 
and her two little brothers were going with 
her to the concert, to hear Signor Puffin, a 
cousin of Little Miss Puffin, sing, assisted by 
all the choirs of Puffin folk on Eskimo Island. 
And there were many, many choirs of them, 
too. 

“Come on,” called Mrs. Laughing Loon, 
giving her splendid polka dot silk bathing suit 
a pat here and there. We perhaps think 
it strange that people should attend a concert 
in bathing suits, but a bathing suit is quite 
the proper costume for the bird folks on 
Eskimo Island. 

Such a concert as that was! The singers 
didn’t just gather on a platform, as we do 
at our concerts. Some of them did, to be 
sure, gather on the cliffs of Eskimo island, 
but that was only a part of the chorus. A 
great, great many more were floating out on 
the blue sea, and still others were flying con¬ 
stantly about in the air. The words of the 
chorus, you see, were all about how the 
earth, the sky and sea all belonged to the 




PIRATES SPOIL THE PUFFIN CONCERT 55 


Puffin folk, and so they sang their choruses 
from earth, sky and sea. 

How those Puffin folk did sing! First 
those on the cliffs sang— 

"The earth, the sea, the airs our home; 

Walking, swimming, flying, it’s our own.” 

Those floating about on the sea answered 
back— 

"Earth or air or the deep blue sea. 

Dipping, diving, soaring free.” 

Then those soaring in the air took up the 
chorus— 

“Were always happy! Soaring high. 

Far above the sea we fly.” 

Then all rose in the air and joining in 
one grand chorus sang it all through again. 
What a wonderful thing it was! What a 
notable occasion it would have been if some¬ 
thing unusual hadn’t happened! It wasn’t 
Baby Laughing Loon’s fault this time. No, 
indeed, it wasn’t at all. The other children 
were so much interested and wanted to get 
so close to the singers in the water that Mrs. 




56 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


Laughing Loon was at her wit’s end to keep 
them from getting right into the singers’ 
seats. And that would never have done at 
all, for they couldn’t sing a note. But Baby 
Laughing Loon had stayed right where her 
mother told her to. Her mother, however, 
had gone on and on, following the other too 
eager bird children beyond this wave and 
that, until poor Baby Laughing Loon was left 
quite out of her sight. 

Suddenly the music stopped. There was 
a shrill scream, and in a moment all the 
Puffins were crying, “Pirates! Pirates!’’ 

“Pirates! Pirates! Run! Run!’’ came 

from land. 

“Pirates! Pirates! Swim! Swim!” 
sounded from the sea. 

“Pirates! Pirates! Fly! Fly!” was 

echoed in the air. 

All was confusion and noise, and in the 
midst of the commotion somewhere, alone, 
was Baby Laughing Loon. 

Perhaps we believe that there are no longer 
pirates on the sea, but that is a mistake. 





There are as many pirates in the bird land 
of the sea as there ever were, and very dan¬ 
gerous, fierce fellows they are, too! Their 
wings are their sails, their bosoms are their 
boats, and they still sail the broad, blue sea. 

Pirates there certainly were, too, in Baby 
Laughing Loon’s world at that very moment. 
While all the Puffin folk were flying and 
swimming away to hide in their homes under 
the rocks the poor child was looking up in 
terror at two fierce pirates soaring overhead. 
How she wished her mother would come! 
But mother didn’t, so all the child could do 
was to scurry off on the waves as fast as 














58 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


her little legs would carry her, while those 
terrible pirates, Ivory Gull and Kittle Wake, 
came closer and closer. How fierce they 
looked! And how hideously they did crack 
their bills! 

Poor little Baby Laughing Loon! Paddle 
fast as she might, the two bold, fierce fel¬ 
lows came nearer and nearer. Now Baby 
Laughing Loon could hear the whirr of their 
wings, now see the gleam of their eyes. 
Now she could see every feather in their 
great sails. In one moment she would be 
carried away by the heartless pirates. And 
sure enough, suddenly Kittle Wake picked 
her up by her collar and whirled her away 
faster than she had ever traveled in her 
life before. It may seem strange that her 
fuzzy-wuzzy, woolly-cotton suit didn’t tear 
right in two, but it didn’t, for it was a very 
strong bathing suit. On and on they whirled. 
Would she never see her mother and brothers 
again in their cozy home on Eskimo Island? 

Even pirates, however, fail sometimes to 
agree. For that matter, they seldom do 




PIRATES SPOIL THE PUFFIN CONCERT 59 



On and on they whirled 


agree, and it wasn’t long before Baby Laugh¬ 
ing Loon became convinced that Kittle Wake 
was trying to get away from Ivory Gull. 
Which was exactly what he was doing. He 
was making very bad work of it, too, for 
he was much smaller than his companion, 
and besides, he had Baby Laughing Loon to 
carry. For a long time they had been far 
up in the air, so far it made Baby Laughing 
Loon dizzy to look down at the blue sea. 
But now they sank, sank, lower and lower, 
till her feet almost touched the tips of the 
highest waves. Then a strange thing hap- 


















60 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


pened. She felt Kittle Wake let go, and 
she dropped. The instant her feet touched 
the water, she dived! Dived deep! And 
it may be that Ivory Gull didn’t even know 
she was gone, for he went right on chasing 
Kittle Wake. 

Probably no one will ever know whether 
Kittle Wake had begun to feel sorry for 
Baby Laughing Loon and had dropped her 
on that account, or whether he thought he 
would come back and find her after Ivory 
Gull was gone. But however it was, he 
didn’t find her, for she began to swim with 
might and main for Eskimo Island, and she 
reached home just as her mother, who had 
given her up for lost, was preparing a sup¬ 
per of shrimps for the other bird children. 

It was a happy family that sat down to 
eat that night, you may be sure. And we 
may also be sure of another thing—that 
Mrs. Laughing Loon never tried to take her 
whole family to another grand concert un¬ 
less Papa Laughing Loon went along to 
help look after the younger children. 




LITTLE BABY LAUGHING LOON 
LEARNS TO PLAY SUBMARINE 


Over on the corner of Eskimo Island lived 
Little Baby Laughing Loon and her mother. 
From this corner a long white sandbar ran 
right out into the sea. Not far away was 
a great black cliff, from the edge of which 
one could look down into the deepest, most 
mysterious sea cave ever seen. 

Little Baby Laughing Loon had one 
brother and one sister—that is, these were 
all the younger children. There were older 
brothers and sisters, but they had taken 
mates of their own and gone to other parts 
of the Island to live. Baby’s mother liked 
best of all to be with her eldest of the three 
younger children, Little Baby Laughing 
61 


62 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


Loon. Perhaps it was because Baby had 
peeped out from beneath Mrs. Laughing 
Loon’s heavy bathing suit first of all, and 
perhaps it was because the very first thing 
she had ever done was to become lost from 
her mother, and narrowly escape a sudden 
death. However that may have been, Mrs. 
Laughing Loon always found time out of 
each busy day to teach Baby some new thing 
about the sand bar, the ocean, or the tundra. 

“Today,” she said, as she smoothed Baby’s 
fuzzy-wuzzy, wooly-cotton bathing suit out 
very carefully, “today you must learn to 
play submarine.” 

“Play submarine?” exclaimed Little Baby 
Laughing Loon, as she frolicked with joy at 
the thought of some new game to be learned, 
“How do you play submarine”? 

“Not so fast,” warned the mother, as 
Baby tumbled head over heels down a sand 
bank. “You’ll have to go to the ocean to 
learn to play submarine, and though it is 
a very fine game it is a hard one to learn 




BABY LOON LEARNS TO PLAY SUBMARINE 63 


and only the Laughing Loon family have 
ever learned to play it well. It’s a very good 
game to know, too, for it has saved many 
a Laughing Loon’s life, I assure you.” 

Baby became quiet at these words, but 
she was still very anxious to learn the new 
game, and trotted along eagerly by her 
mother’s side till they reached the water’s 
edge. 

‘‘You stay here and watch me very 
closely,” said Mrs. Laughing Loon as she 
went splashing away in the sea. 

Baby watched her very closely as she 
went sailing grandly away to deep water. 
Then all of a sudden she rubbed her eyes 
and looked hard. She looked again and 
again. Her mother had disappeared! What 
could have happened? Had some great sea 
monster come along and seized her? Where 
could she be? 

Just when Baby was about to give up 
for lost and was planning to hasten home to 
tell her poor little brother and sister, her 




64 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


mother suddenly appeared in the water al¬ 
most under her very nose. “Did you lose 
me?” asked Mrs. Laughing Loon, smiling 
gaily. “Well, now, this time you watch 
very closely, very closely indeed, and per¬ 
haps you will see me all the time.” 

She went sailing away as before, and dis¬ 
appeared as before, but look here and there, 
everywhere on the ocean, Baby could not 
see her till she appeared as before, very close 
to shore. “Well, I do declare!” exclaimed 
her mother, “I thought you had very sharp 
eyes, but here you have lost me again! This 
time I will do it very, very slowly, and you 
watch very sharply.” 

She swam out into the water again, and 
this time as Baby watched she saw the 
very least bit of her mother’s bathing suit 
seeming to float like a bit of sea grass on 
the water, and just before it, was the tip 
of her mother’s nose. That was all she 
could see. “Now I understand!” she ex¬ 
claimed, as her mother came to shore, “You 
just pull yourself down in the water and 




BABY LOON LEARNS TO PLAY SUBMARINE 65 



swim away, don t you? I can do that! 
That’s easy!” 

“Oh! is it?” exclaimed Mrs. Laughing 
Loon, opening her eyes wide and looking 
very much surprised. Well, then, suppose 
you try it, and I will see if I can find you.” 

Baby was all too willing to try it, and 
away she went out to deep water. She was 
very certain she knew how it was done, 
but when she tried it, to her surprise! she 






















66 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


couldn’t make herself sink at all. She held 
her breath until she could no longer do so. 
She put her head down into the water, but 
then her feet stuck up. She tried every way 
she knew, but at last she had to give it 
up and come back to shore. 

“Not so easy, is it?’’ laughed her mother 
good-naturedly. “Didn’t I tell you that the 
Loon family were almost the only people 
in the world who could do it well? Come 
out with me and I will show you how it is 
done, but you will have to practice many, 
many times before you can do it really well.’’ 

Baby was eager to take her first lesson, 
so away they splashed. She worked hard 
and learned much that first day. We may 
be certain she was ready for a good supper 
of shrimp and clam chowder when night 
came. She was happy, as everyone has a 
right to be when he is learning some new 
thing and doing their very best at it. 

It was not many days before Baby could 
play submarine almost as well as her mother. 
Then such good times as they did have try- 




BABY LOON LEARNS TO PLAY SUBMARINE 67 


ing to discover one another as they went 
scooting through the water! Then the day 
at last came when this knowledge gave Baby 
very good help though she did not know 
it was going to. Her mother had been so 
happy teaching her that she had forgotten 
to tell her why her people really learned to 
play submarine. 

Baby had been for a long trip out on the 
ocean when once more she heard that fear¬ 
ful cry, “Pirates! Pirates! Fly! Fly!” But 
Baby hadn’t learned to fly. What could she 
do? In just a moment she heard that dread¬ 
ful flap, flap of wings just over her head. 
She had escaped from the pirates once, but 
this time if they took her she felt very sure 
there would be no Little Baby Laughing 
Loon. She resolved to do her very best, so 
bravely she struck out for the shore. It wasn’t 
going to be a bit of use, she was certain, for 
the pirates—there were four of them this 
time—were soaring closer, closer to her. Sud¬ 
denly she saw her mother on the shore. She 
was screaming at the top of her voice, but 




68 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


Baby could not hear a word she said. Her 
heart was beating so loudly and her feet 
made such a splashing as she paddled her 
best that the sound was quite drowned. Dare 
she stop for a second to listen? It was an 
only hope! Just one brief second she paused, 
then clearly across the waters came: 

“Play submarine! Play submarine!” 

For just a second Baby was puzzled, then 
she understood and instantly she disappeared 
as completely as if she had been swallowed 
by old Giant Whale. In vain the pirates 
skimmed along the water in search of her. 
They did not find her. But when at last 
they had given up the search Baby appeared 
on the water quite close to her mother’s side. 

Mrs. Laughing Loon kissed her a hundred 
times or more, and exclaimed, “I should have 
told you before! I should have told you 
before! But now you know what a valuable 
thing it is to be able to play submarine. 
Having learned it by this experience you 
will not forget it half so soon as you might 




BABY LOON LEARNS TO PLAY SUBMARINE 69 



Able to play submarine. 


have if I had told you of it in the first place. 
Now come home, we will have a cold bite 
and some muckluck grass tea, and away 
they splashed for the shore. 
























































PHILANDER GRAY GOOSE AND 
DUNGEMESS CRAB 



Over in another corner of the island lived 
Mother Gray Goose and her five Gray Goose 
children. The Gray Goose children were 
dressed in woolly cotton bathing suits just as 
Baby Laughing Loon was. Every day, after 
she had taken her afternoon nap, their mother 
took them down to the ocean for a swim 
and caught red shrimps for them to eat. 
Now these young Goose children were very 
impatient little fellows, as many young peo¬ 
ple are. Sometimes, almost always, in fact, 
they thought her nap lasted a long time. 
They didn’t dare to wake her. My! No! 

70 




GRAY GOOSE AND DUNGEMESS CRAB 71 



Those naps seemed very long indeed. 


Philander, the largest of them all, and the 
one who always acted as their leader, tried 
that once, and after what happened to him 
then, he never cared to try it again. 

But for all that, those naps seemed very 
long indeed, and the little Goose folks grew 
more and more impatient about them, until 
one day Philander said to his brothers and 
sisters, “I’ll tell you what we will do. We’ll 
just go down to the ocean and hunt our din¬ 
ner for ourselves. We will get back in time to 
be here when mother wakes up, and then 
won’t she be surprised when she finds some 







72 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


shrimps and we say we don’t feel hungry?” 

Away they went then all in a straight row 
right down to the water, and in they plunged. 
They looked down into the water this way 
and that way very sharply, and very soon 
one of the youngsters spied a red-faced 
shrimp right down in the bottom on the sand, 
and down he bobbed, and up he came with 
the shrimp twisting in his bill. They all 
hurried over to the sand to feast on the 
shrimp. It was but a mouthful, however, 
and only made them more eager than ever 
to go hunting again. Out they swam, and 
they looked and looked and looked, but 
never another shrimp did they find. Pretty 
soon Philander said, “I see something brown 
sticking out of the sand!” 

“What is it? What is it?” the others all 
called in a chorus. 

“I’ll go down and see,” said Philander. 
Down he dove, and up he came with nothing 
in his mouth. 

“What was it? What was it?” the others 
demanded. 




GRAY GOOSE AND DUNGEMESS CRAB 


73 


“It’s a young clam, a very young clam,” 
said Philander, “and he has his shell open. 

I wonder, -” he hesitated, “I do wonder 

if I dare put my bill in his shell and bring 
him up.” 

“O yes, you’d dare,” exclaimed one of 
the other Goose children. “Let me. I’d 
dare.” 

“No, no,” said Philander. ‘‘I’ll do it,” and 
down to the sand he dove again. Up he 
came again very quickly with the clam 
closely closed over his bill. Now we may 
think that he had a bad time getting that 
clam off his bill. But he didn’t. He wasn’t 
a bit worried. He just marched over to 
the shore, and when they were all gathered 
there, he gave a big yawn, and the clam shell 
just fell right in two in the middle, and the 
five Goose children gobbled up the soft juicy 
clam in mouthfuls. 

But that wasn’t all of the story. They 
felt very good and very brave after that, 
and Philander thought it was time they had 
a grand march out on the ocean, and sang 




74 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


a song. So out they went, and round and 
round they swam, singing. 

“Rimp! Dimp! 

Caught a young clam and a shrimp! 

Rimp! Dimp! 

If we were lame we would limp! 

Rimpety, dimpety, dimp-dimp!” 

We may think that this was about as queer 
a song as one could sing. But it just suited 
them, for they were very young fellows, and 
liked things that were queer, as many young¬ 
sters do. 

Just about that time old Mrs. Goose 
wakened, very much refreshed from her nap. 
But where were the children? With a start 
of surprise she rubbed her eyes and looked 
about. In just an instant she saw them out 
on the ocean, and in the next instant she 
was racing down the beach, calling at the 
top of her voice. Mrs. Goose had seen some¬ 
thing over there on the sand bar right beneath 
the water where her youngsters were playing 
gaily about and singing, 




GRAY GOOSE AND DUNGEMESS CRAB 


75 


“Rimp! Dimp! 

Caught a young clam and a shrimp!” 

What she saw would have looked to us 
very much like a rock with several sticks 
piled about on top of it, but it didn’t look 
a bit like that to Mrs. Goose. She was far 
too wise a mother goose for that, so she went 
racing down the beach calling to her children 
as loudly as she could. 

But it often happens that many youngsters 
are so very much interested in what they 
are playing, and making so much noise about 
it that they cannot hear their mother’s voice. 
It was just so this time. The Gray Goose 
children just went right on singing, 

“Rimp! Dimp! 

Caught a young clam and a shrimp!” 
and never hear at all. And in just a moment 
they were right over that strange rock and 
those sticks. They didn’t see them at all, 
but went swimming right ahead. 

Now, old Dungemess Crab was usually 
content to dine of something much less fine 




76 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


than juicy young goose, 
but when he saw five pairs 
of fresh red feet hanging 
right down toward him, 
he just couldn’t resist the 
temptation to straighten 
out one of those hard, 
bony arms and open one 
of those hard, bony hands, 
and close up a pair of 
hard, bony fingers, so just 
as Philander Goose was 
singing his verse for the 
forty-ninth time, he gave a 
little startled scream, then 
a wild “Mother! Mother!” 
and with a little cough and 
a gurgle disappeared be¬ 
neath the water. 

Mother Goose saw it 
all, and was right out 
there in an instant. She 
went under the water with 
one plunge and very soon 
the water was all stirred 





































GRAY GOOSE AND DUNGEMESS CRAB 


77 


up. Then she and Philander appeared at the 
top safe and sound. 

Philander Goose didn’t sing that new song 
of his for a long time after that, for to tell 
the truth, he was very lame. After awhile 
he was able to get about again as well as 
ever, but after this adventure he always 
waited patiently for his mother to finish her 
naps before he ventured forth on the sea. 





STATELY MISS SWAN 



“My mother says a happy childhood 
brings a cheerful old age,” exclaimed Tom¬ 
mie Specks, standing on his head in the 
water and kicking his feet in the air, “and 
I want a cheerful old age, so I’m going to 
have a cheerful time right now.’’ He went 
racing through the water, waving his arm 
and screaming at the top of his voice. 

Stately Miss Swan looked at him doubt- 


78 


STATELY MISS SWAN 


79 


fully. “Do you think that’s really true?” 
she asked. 

“Of course it is!” exclaimed Tommie, turn¬ 
ing a hand spring. “Why, of course it is. 
My mother says it is and she heard it from 
some great human who was a scholar, so 
it must be true.” 

“And do you have to stand on your head 
and run and scream and do all those things 
to be cheerful?” 

“Of course you do,” said Tommie scorn¬ 
fully, “else how could people know how 
cheerful you are?” 

Miss Swan was puzzled. She wanted a 
cheerful old age just as badly as anyone, 
but all her life long she had been very, very 
quiet and dignified. Her mother had taught 
her that this was the way young Bird ladies 
should act. Now there was Tommie Specks 
standing on his head, turning handsprings 
and screaming at the top of his voice and 
telling her that if she didn’t do those things 
she couldn’t have a cheerful old age! Why, 




80 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


she just felt bad all over at the thought of 
it right now! 

She went off in a corner all by herself and 
began to think. She was sure she would 
look very absurd standing on her head or 
turning hand springs in the water. Oh! no, 
she could never, never do that! But,— 
but, her mother had said once that their 
family were sometimes known as trumpeters 
and enjoyed the reputation of being the 
greatest trumpeters in the world. She just 
wondered if she could be one too. She 
swam away and away from the other Bird 
children till she was quite by herself in a 
little cove of the sea. There she puckered 
up her face and uttered a little tiny note. 
Oh, it was ever so tiny! But she did have 
to admit it sounded rather fine, so she tried 
it again, this time a little louder. Ah! yes, 
she could trumpet! She could indeed! And 
now she would have a cheerful old age, for 
she would practice over and over again, and 
very soon she would come marching out 




STATELY MISS SWAN 


81 


among her playmates trumpeting so loudly 
and so joyously that they would all cheer, 
“Miss Swan’s going to have a cheerful old 
age!” 

For several days after that, she spent every 
morning all by herself learning to trumpet, 
until at last she felt quite sure she was ready 
to trumpet before a king. 

The next morning out she swam trumpet¬ 
ing at every bend of her graceful neck and 
every stroke of her dainty foot. How the 
Birdie children did look! Tommie Specks 
stopped turning hand springs and stared, 
while Little Baby Laughing Loon forgot all 
about playing submarine and stared too. In 
just a moment Tommie thought of just the 
right thing to do. He turned right in behind 
Miss Specks and in just a second there was 
a whole procession of little folks swimming 
round and round, led by Miss Swan trumpet¬ 
ing her very best. We may be certain that 
it was one jolly time, and it seemed true 
that there was not a little fellow in the 
group but was to have a cheerful old age,— 




82 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 



This was their song. 

Oh, a very cheerful one, indeed! This was 
their song: 

Hi Away! Hi Away! Whoo-hoop away 
home! 

All the blight night and day; 

Dark will soon come to stay 
Hi away on. 

Now some dashing wave. 

Now some deep sea cave 
Echoes our song. 

Now round a crest we go 
East way or west we know. 

Soon again southward though. 

That won't be long. 

Oh! Eskimo Island dear! 

Soon only you'll be here. 

Sleeping alone. 







STATELY MISS SWAN 


83 


Sleep then our northern isle 
Neath moon's sweet silver smile, 

Sleep, Island, sleep! 

Wake then when spring has come. 

Shake off the ice our home. 

Wake, Island, wake! 

Then it's Hi Away! Hi Away! Whoo-hoop 
away home! 

All the bright night and day; 

Bark will soon come to stay. 

Then it's Hi away on! 

Just then something happened to spoil their 
fun. Omnok, the Eskimo hunter, was far 
over on the other shore in his kiak, but so 
loudly did Miss Swan trumpet that he could 
hear her over there, and in just a second he 
had his terrible boola balls on their cords, and 
was making his paddle go swish, swish in the 
water right over toward Eskimo Island. 

“Honk, Honk, Trumpet, Trumpet,” called 
Miss Swan as she sailed along at the head of 
the happy circle. “Honk, Honk, Honk.” 
Then she turned about a point of rock, and 
right there in front of them all was Omnok 













— " " ■ ■■■■■ — ■■ ■ ' — ■ — . 

_ 


. . - , 


--- 


=J-.._ . 

^ — : --— 


- - 


— 


‘-•■■■wo; 


- - 










■ansHi 


In front of them all was Omnok. 


84 








































STATELY MISS SWAN 


85 


with the terrible boola ready to whirl and 
throw. 

“Run! Run!” shrieked Tommie Specks, 
diving and scooting away. “Swim! Swim! 
shrieked Little Baby Laughing Loon, play¬ 
ing submarine and scooting away. But what 
was Miss Swan to do? She couldn t dive 
very well and she couldn’t play submarine. 
She just hung her head and expected every 
moment to feel the terrible boola string wind 
about her. But hanging her head happened 
to be the very best thing to do, for just as she 
did it, Omnok’s arm went out and away 
whirred the terrible boola right over Miss 
Swan, and splash! right into the ocean it 
went! And before Omnok could prepare 
another boola Miss Swan swam swiftly away. 

“Your rule does not suit me at all,” said 
Miss Swan to Tommie Specks next day. I d 
rather be quiet and dignified.” 

Tommie couldn’t answer her. He was 
quite sure he had been right about a cheerful 
childhood bringing a cheerful old age, but 
someway his rule didn’t seem to work right 




86 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


that day, so he just said nothing, but went 
over to the land and looked for a shrimp for 
his breakfast. 







LITTLE MISS SNOW BUNTING 


“O Mother!” said Miss Swan as she came 
upon her mother preparing supper, “What 
am I to do?” 

“Why, what’s the matter now!” asked her 
mother, almost laughing in spite of herself at 
the mournful face her beautiful daughter was 
wearing. 

“Well,” said Miss Swan, looking more 
mournful than ever, “You see the other day 
Tommie Specks said that a happy childhood 
helped for a cheerful old age and he went 
skipping about in the water and turning 
handsprings and all that, and Little Baby 
Laughing Loon played submarine and every¬ 
body was having a cheerful childhood but me. 
There wasn’t one cheerful thing I could do. 
I could only go about and arch my neck and 
look at myself in the water. So I went off by 
myself and tried to learn to trumpet and by 
87 


88 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


and by I could trumpet very well. Then I 
went back and trumpeted for all the little 
folks. They thought it was so very nice that 
they all followed me about in a circle and we 
were having such a cheerful childhood. Oh! 
such a cheerful, cheerful childhood! Then 
all of a sudden Omnok the hunter came upon 
us and if I hadn’t hid my face in the water 
you would never have seen me again, I am 
sure. 

“After that, I decided I didn’t want a cheer¬ 
ful old age if I had to be frightened almost to 
death and perhaps killed, so today 1 just kept 
quiet and didn’t trumpet at all. I just floated 
about in the water while all the other folks 
were cheerful, but they weren’t very cheerful, 
for they thought I ought to go about and 
trumpet for them and be cheerful too. But I 
didn’t, and by and by 1 became very sleepy. 
I thought it wouldn’t be a bit of harm for me 
to take just a little nap with all the other little 
folks all about me. So I put my head under 
my wing and went to sleep. And O Mother! 
if someone hadn’t bit me on the toe just when 




LITTLE MISS SNOW BUNTING 



Soup for Little White Bear's supper. 


they did I would have been taken home to 
make soup for Little White Bear’s supper. 
Now, what am I to do? If I am cheerful and 
try to have a cheerful childhood Omnok tries 
to catch me and if I am quiet and don’t make 
any noise at all I get sleepy and Big White 
Bear tries to carry me off.” Miss Swan looked 
down at her pink shoes as sadly as Goodie 
Two Shoes must have looked at her one shoe. 























90 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


“Well,” said her mother in a very gentle 
tone, “That is a hard problem, isn’t it? All 
little folks have problems which are much 
harder to solve than we older people think. 
This is the way it seems to me. Tommie 
Specks was quite right when he said a cheer¬ 
ful childhood stood for a cheerful old age. 
But,—” Mrs. Swan looked very thoughtfully 
at her young daughter, “does it really seem 
necessary to make a loud noise all the time to 
be cheerful?” 

“No-o, I don’t believe it does,” said Miss 
Swan, after thinking hard. “I never thought 
of that.” 

“Well, then,” said her mother, “try being 
cheerful and not making much noise, espe¬ 
cially in places where there may be dangers 
lurking. Trumpet all you care to but trumpet 
softly. Some of the very sweetest notes in 
the world are so very soft that the least breath 
of wind bears them away and you do not hear 
them at all.” 

Miss Swan thought about what her mother 
had said all that evening, and next morning 




LITTLE MISS SNOW BUNTING 


91 


she sallied out bravely to meet her young 
playmates and tell them how it all was. They 
were glad to see her and gladly, too, they 
formed in line and followed her about while 
she trumpeted to them in the lowest, sweetest 
notes they had ever heard. Of course Tom¬ 
mie Specks had to turn a handspring now and 
then, but he did it very gracefully. Little 
Baby Loon was graceful too, when she 
played submarine, and even the Puffin chil¬ 
dren were more graceful as they played air¬ 
ship and went skimming over the water when 
the others swam too fast for them. So 
they were all having a fine time when all of a 
sudden they heard a voice coming from the 
shore of Eskimo Island. It was very close to 
them and sounded out so very sharply, “Chee! 
Chee! Chee!” that they were all about to 
scurry away in fright when Miss Swan spied 
the little person who was calling to them. 
Anyone would then have laughed, at their 
fear. The little Bird lady was perched on the 
least bit of a willow twig, and it didn’t bend 
down one bit! She was no larger than Tom- 





■ ■ • 


■ ■ ". - « 1 ■■■■» 


■ • ■ 






— ■» » « ■ ■ « ■ ■■ 


■ - ■ 


•• » ■ 


———— 


— 


Was perched on the least bit of a willow twig. 


92 











































































































LITTLE MISS SNOW BUNTING 


93 


mie Specks’ head, and not nearly so tall as 
Miss Swan’s boot, but she was such a chic 
little body, and held herself in such a ladylike 
poise that the other Bird children could not 
help but open their mouths and stare. 

“Who are you?’’ asked Miss Swan at last. 

“I’m Little Miss Snow Bunting,” replied 
the other very politely. 

“What can you do to be cheerful?” asked 
Tommie. “Can you turn handsprings or play 
submarine or can you trumpet?” 

“I can do none of those things,” said Miss 
Snow Bunting. I have no bathing suit and I 
am not large enough to trumpet, but I can 
sing.” At this she sang them a shrill cheerful 
little song about the snow in the cold winter 
time. 

“Don’t sing so loudly, please,” said Miss 
Swan. 

“Well, why not?” asked Miss Snow Bunt¬ 
ing. 

“Someone might come along and want to 
catch you.” 




94 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 



How Miss Snow Bun¬ 
ting did enjoy this! 

“ Why ! ” she ex¬ 
claimed a f t e r a while, 
“no one ever wants to 
kill me. I sit right near 
Big White Bear and talk 
to him. I’ve d o n e it 
many, many times, and 
1 sing right by Mrs. 
Fox’s door step. I waken 
Omnok, the hunter, and 
send him out to find his 
breakfast, but never 
once did any of them 
want to kill me. I think 
it is because 1 am so very 
small, and then perhaps 
they really like to hear 
me sing.” 

Well, all the other 
little folks wondered 
what to think of that, 
but by and by Tommie 
thought of another ques¬ 
tion to ask. “Why did 


How Miss Snow Bunting did 
enjoy this! 









LITTLE MISS SNOW BUNTING 


95 


you sing about the snow in the cold, cold 
winter time?” he asked. “You were never 
here in the winter time, were you?” 

“No, I am too young for that,” smiled Miss 
Snow Bunting ,“but my mother has lived here 
for several winters and she learned the song 
so she could teach it to me.” 

“You won’t stay here all winter, will you?” 
asked Tommie, opening his eyes wide. 

“Indeed I shall,” said Miss Snow Bunting, 
bobbing her head vigorously. “Mother says 
it’s the best time of all the year.” 

“I’d like to know what’s nice about all ice 
and snow and no sun and cold, cold all the 
time,” said Tommie in a mean way. “That’s 
just the way it is, for I heard Mrs. Fox telling 
little White Fox about it one day when they 
didn’t know I was about.” 

“Oh! but that isn’t all,” said Miss Snow 
Bunting very mysteriously. “There’s God’s 
moving pictures!” She whispered it so awe¬ 
somely that all the young folks sat quiet and 
wanted her to tell them more about it. “I 
don’t know much about it,” she whispered, 




96 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


“but I heard Old Mrs. Big White Bear tell¬ 
ing her son all about it and her voice wasn’t 
a bit gruff when she told him. I heard Mrs. 
Fox telling Little White Fox about it one eve¬ 
ning when it was bed time, and her voice was 
very gentle, indeed. I heard even the black 
ravens croaking quite sweetly about it, so 
I know it must be very wonderful and grand. 
I wish you could all stay and see God’s mov¬ 
ing pictures; I really do! But I must hurry 
home to tea,” and away she flew. 

There was no more trumpeting that day; 
no more handsprings, and no more subma¬ 
rines nor aeroplanes. The little folks were 
all thinking of God’s moving pictures and 
making up their minds to stay and see them. 
We may be sure their mothers had something 
to say to them about that, for none of them 
ever said another word about staying. Only 
Tommie Specks said to himself, “Perhaps 
Miss Snow Bunting will tell us all about it 
when we come back in the spring.” 




OLD TRAMP STORMY PETREL 



Far in the western sky great crowds of 
fairy bird folks were skimming, their filmy 
gowns white as Miss Swan’s bathing suit. 
Little Baby Laughing Loon sat with her feet 
dangling in the water, dreaming of them 
and wondering why she could not join them. 

“I wish I wasn’t so much afraid of trust¬ 
ing myself to the air,” she thought wistfully. 

Behind these airy, cloudy visions of fairy 
bird folks were dark heads popping up now 
and then. “They are black pirates of fairy 
bird lands,” thought Baby. “I am quite 
sure I should be very much afraid of them, 







98 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


for these fairy birds always scurry along so 
fast that the black heads can do no more than 
appear far in the distance beyond them.” 

Just when she was thinking hardest and 
her dreams seemed most real, she heard the 
clap-clap of wings. 

“Good! Good!” she almost cheered. “They 
are fairy bird folks! They are, for I hear 
their wings!” 

In just a second she had another thought. 
If the fairy bird folks were real, were not 
the black old pirates real also, and wouldn’t 
they go after Little Baby Laughing Loon, 
who was not half so swift as these fairy bird 
folks? 

At that she called, “Mother! Mother!” 
and started to swim away. But just then 
she realized that these wing claps did not 
really come from cloud land, but from very 
much closer—right over her head, in fact, 
she could see the fellow who was doing the 
clapping. She was very much more fright¬ 
ened now, for after all, real things some¬ 
times frighten us the most, and this fellow 




OLD TRAMP STORMY PETREL 


99 


did look so much like Ivory Gull and Kittle 
Wake, the grim sea pirates. 

As she was about to go racing away Baby 
caught a look at the stranger’s face. It was 
an ugly face, but at the same time such a 
good-humored one that Baby concluded that 
the stranger was not a dangerous fellow 
after all. So she waited to see what would 
happen. 

“Good day,” said the stranger, lighting 
on the water in such an airy fashion as not 
to disturb it to a single ripple; so gently, 
indeed, that Baby was half minded after 
all to run away, thinking this one of the 
airy sea pirates she had been dreaming of 
but a moment before. But one glance at 
the stranger’s jolly face reassured her, and 
she settled back in her place and made her 
most mannerly bow. 

“Don’t know me, do you?” said the 
stranger, winking at Baby, while a most en¬ 
gaging smile spread across his face. 

“No, but you’re a jolly looking fellow,” 
said Baby, smiling back. 






m' ^ 


. 


•.SS-VA,. 


J Wi wBai! 




TOW W BME 




Stormy Petrel. 


100 


v. 















































OLD TRAMP STORMY PETREL 


101 


“Why shouldn’t I be?” exclaimed the 
stranger. “I haven’t a care in the world. 
Not a care!’’ 

“What’s your name?” Baby asked timidly. 

“Stormy Petrel. Some people call me a 
tramp, but I’m not really a tramp. I’m just 
a wanderer, a traveler, if you like it that 
way better.” The stranger’s face grew sud¬ 
denly dreamy. “It’s a great life I lead too,” 
he mused, his eyes half closed. “I am going 
just now to a little cliff I know of far north 
of here, and there while the summer is hot 
and stuffy in other lands I shall camp out 
for a time. But when the first sharp winds 
of winter come, I shall take the breezes 
south. I shall catch the wake of some sail¬ 
ing schooner or a steamer from Nome, and 
the sailors will be glad to see me, for they 
say I bring them good luck. I shall sail 
along in their wake and they will gladly 
feed me. Far to new southern lands rich 
in spicy breezes I shall go and then on and 
on, no one knows where, but always on and 
on, till summer comes again and I seek my 




102 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


cliff in the Arctic lands. Does it not all 
sound very fine?” 

It did sound fine indeed to little Baby 
Laughing Loon. 

“I tell you what!” exclaimed Stormy, com¬ 
ing quite close to Baby and nudging her in 
a manner that Baby did not quite like, ‘‘I’ll 
tell you what! You’ll be flying when I come 
back here in the autumn, and you and I’ll go 
on a trip together. A child is always handy 
for a traveler like me. What do you say?” 

Baby was too full of thought to answer, 
so the stranger rose and soared away. That 
night in her home Baby said to her mother, 
‘‘Mother, I’m going to be a tramp, or a tra¬ 
veler, or something when I grow up—just 
such a person as Stormy Petrel is.” 

‘‘All right,” smiled her mother. ‘‘You 
may be a traveler like Stormy Petrel, or a 
tramp, as he really is, but first I must tell 
you just the kind of life he really lives. 
Doubtless he told you all about the happy 
side. Well, listen closely while I tell you the 
rest. It is true that the sailors are very glad 




OLD TRAMP STORMY PETREL 


103 


to have him follow their ship, and they do 
feed him very well. These great ships travel 
far over the wide seas where there are terri¬ 
ble storms, and many times when the storm 
is raging wildest the sailors cannot get out to 
throw food to Stormy Petrel, and he is too 
far from land to go to find it, so he suffers 
from hunger. Very often in these wild 
storms he becomes weary and then he rests 
on the waves and falls asleep. When he 
awakes fog has covered the sea, and his ship 
is far away. Then he is alone on the great 
wild sea. If he perishes of hunger, there is 
no one to mourn him; no one to bury him, 
and by and by the red-faced shrimp children 
pick his bones. That’s the other story to 
being a traveler like Stromy Petrel.” 

Baby was silent then, and very soon she 
was fast asleep. The next morning as she 
played with Miss Swan, she said suddenly: 

“I’m not going to be a tramp like Stormy 
Petrel.” 

“Who said you were?” asked Miss Swan. 

Baby did not answer, but went bobbing 
away playing submarine. 




LITTLE BABY LAUGHING LOON 
MEETS LITTLE BROWN SEAL 


“Ho! Ho! Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho! Yak! Yak! 
Yak! Little Brown Seal seemed to laugh 
rolling his funny round head about in the 
water, till Little Baby Laughing Loon 
thought it would certainly be twisted off 
and go floating about all by itself. 

You needn’t laugh!” exclaimed Baby 
stamping the water with her dainty feet. 

It’s no laughing matter!” 

Little Brown Seal only laughed the harder, 
and he was so very good natured, and his 
little round head looked so very much like 
the hoola-hoola ball with which Kituk the 
Eskimo boy played, that Baby Laughing 
Loon had to enjoy looking at Brown Seal 
in spite of herself. Then, of course, she 
felt better, even if she were a bit ashamed 
that she had taken such a tumble from the 
104 


BABY LOON MEETS LITTLE BROWN SEAL 105 


mountain top when there was someone about 
to see her. 

Days and weeks, and even a month or 
two had passed since Little Baby Laugh¬ 
ing Loon had followed Kituk in his kiak, 
and thought he was a great mother, and 
since she had been lost at the festival of 
the Puffins and nearly been carried away 
by the pirates. She had changed her fuzzy- 
wuzzy, woolly-cotton bathing suit for a 
realy-truly grown up suit of feathers, and 
in truth she was almost as large as her 
mother. She might have been very, very 
happy, as most young people are when they 
are just blossoming out into real grown 
folks, but one thing she could not forget. 
She had heard the Puffins’ chorus sing: 

“The earth and the sea and sky’s our 
home,” and she knew it was true, for had 
they not walked and swam and flown away? 
But all three, “land, sea and sky,’’ belonged 
just as much to the Laughing Loon family. 
Her mother had often said that they did. 
The land? why yes, that did belong to her. 




106 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


Did she not wander about among the great 
mysterious grass forests or beneath the great 
towering willows? Was it pleasant to lie 
in the sun when it was not too warm or to 
play about in the shade of an afternoon? 
Yes, indeed,—the land was hers. The sea? 
Did she not swim and dive in all its wonderful 
blue of water and mist and storm? Did 
she not hunt the red faced Shrimp children 
to their homes beneath its surfaces? Yes, 
the sea was hers also. The sky? Well, that 
was altogether different. Try as she might 
she could not make herself feel that the 
sky was a safe place to be! Sometimes it 
seemed not to be there at all and always 
it seemed to be going this way or that. How 
could one be supposed to ride in it and dive 
in it or lie about upon it? Would it not 
let you fall, far, far down and go crashing 
on the rocks, or would it not carry you far 
away from your friends to lands unknown? 
These questions came to Baby Laughing 
Loon and every time she thought of going 
out upon the sky, she was afraid. The 




BABY LOON MEETS LITTLE BROWN SEAL 107 


wild soaring of the Puffins and of her own 
brothers and sisters could not assure her. 

This day she had grown brave. She 
would soar away in the sky. She just 
would! So she climbed far, far up the side 
of the mountain to the top of a great cliff. 
She thought that surely from here it would 
be only a step right out into the sky. But 
after she had clambered, puffing and pant¬ 
ing, to the very top the sky seemed no 
nearer than before. Such a strange thing 
this sky was anyway! The land now, was 
always much the same and so was the sea. 
Oh, yes,—the sea turned black at times and 
green at others and sometimes it was gray, 
but anyway it was always there. As for 
changing of color why her mother’s splendid 
square checked bathing suit changed too 
when the sun shone upon it. But the sky! 
Why even now it was changing color and 
going away fast. How could she be expected 
to take a ride upon it? 

She had waited and waited and waited 
until a little bit of the sky came quite close 




103 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


to the cliff and she had thought she might 
jump out upon it. Holding her breath hard 
she had spread her wings and given a great 
leap. Alas it would seem that there was 
no sky there at all for down, down she came 
and if there hadn’t been an arm of the kind 
old ocean there to catch her she would cer¬ 
tainly have been killed. As it was she had 
an awful fright, and was all shaken up, and 
to make it worse here was Little Brown 
Seal, a very new companion, laughing at 
her. Was it not all very mean? 

Now as we know, Little Brown Seal 
looked so comical with his hoola-hoola ball 
head and his whiskers, like the white man’s 
cat, that Baby Laughing Loon just had to 
feel joyful in spite of herself. 

“Well,” she said to herself, “anyway here 
is someone who looks as if he would make 
a good playmate and I don’t believe he thinks 
for a moment the sky is his so I think we 
may have some good times together.” 

Some good times they did have after 
that; for Little Brown Seal hadn’t the slight- 





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Spread her wings and given a great leap. 


109 










































































no 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


est notion of trying to fly and though he 
had his doubts about the wisdom of Baby 
Laughing Loon’s not trying to make the sky 
her own, he was far too well pleased with 
her company to suggest that she try again 
to climb out upon the sky. 

So the days fled swiftly by and one fine 
morning when the night had been growing 
longer and the winds colder Baby Laughing 
Loon awoke to find all her feathered friends 
gone. They had vanished like the parts of 
the sky which had so disappointed her. 

“Where can they be?” she asked Little 
Brown Seal in great distress. 

Little Brown Seal was a very kind hearted 
fellow, and besides he didn’t feel just right 
about encouraging Baby to play so long with 
him while the fine days were passing, but 
he was also an honest fellow and so he 
said, “They have all started south. Your 
people never stay in my land during the 
long cold winter, so I suppose you must go 
too though I shall miss you very much.” 




BABY LOON MEETS LITTLE BROWN SEAL 111 


Then we may be very sure that Baby felt 
badly indeed. 

“Its all my own fault!” she bravely said, 
“I should have found out how to make the 
sky my own but it looked so very hard! 
Now there is nothing for me to do but to 
swim and the way seems very long. Per¬ 
haps there are many dangers in that strange 
** 

sea. 

“I will go a long piece with you,” said 
Little Brown Seal generously and away they 
swam together. Sometimes Little Brown 
Seal was on top of the water and sometimes 
underneath, but never far away. 



111 l nrfl 11 i ll 














PIRATES AGAIN 



“What was that?” Baby Laughing Loon 
looked and listened. There it was again 
Clap! Clap! Clap! Surely it was the sound 
of wings. Whose wings could it be? Her 
own people and all the Puffins people as 
well as Mrs. Swan and her family must 
be far, far south by this time for she and 
Little Brown Seal had journeyed on the 
sea days and days already and their journey¬ 
ing had been slow indeed. Once there had 
been a great storm and a strong current. 


112 








PIRATES AGAIN 


113 


That time they swam hard two days and 
only just succeeded in getting beyond a great 
gray rock that stuck out into the sea. For 
a moment Baby hoped it was one of her 
brothers or sisters or even her mother who 
had come back to help her along. But this 
hope very soon vanished and in its place 
came a dark, dark fear. What if it were 
the two gray pirates, Ivory Gull and Kittle 
Wake? What if it were? Baby was afraid! 
If it were, how soon her pretty bathing 
suit might be scattered in little shreds here 
and there on the dark water which even 
now reflected the clouds above. 

She didn’t have long to wait. A darker 
shadow floated over the waters. Baby did 
not dare look up. A new sound came to 
her ears and told her plainer than words that 
she was in danger. It was the two gray 
pirates; she heard their savage teeth grat¬ 
ing as they soared above her, ready at any 
moment to swoop down upon her. 

Wildly Baby looked about her. Where 
was Little Brown Seal? She had not seen 





A darker shadow floated over the waters. 


114 





































































































































PIRATES AGAIN 


115 


him for hours. Had he left her in this 
moment of her need? It must be so for 
he was no where to be seen. Baby scolded 
herself for trusting him. Had he not allowed 
her to go on playing about on the sea? 
Had he not encouraged her to hope she 
might go on and on over the water to her 
southern home? Now he was gone! How 
she wished she had tried harder to make 
the sky her home as well as the sea. But 
there was no help for sad thoughts now. 
In just a few moments she might be no more. 
Already she heard the cold snap! snap! of 
Ivory Gull’s teeth close to her head. Well, 
they should not catch her very easy. She 
dived again and again. But each time her 
strength grew less and less and each time 
the bird pirates managed to come closer 
and closer to her as she rose. 

She had just given up hope and was about 
to cease diving and allow herself to float 
on the surface when she heard a different 
noise. There was a savage snap many times 
louder than Old Ivory Gull’s savage teeth 




116 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


could make, right close to her. Very much 
closer it was to Ivory Gull for with a wild 
frightened scream, he rose high in the air 
and disappeared among the clouds. Kittle 
Wake had not seen and when the snap came 
again he left two long feathers floating in 
the water. 

I almost caught him!” exclaimed a voice 
close to Baby. It was Little Brown Seal. 

Yes,, panted Baby, “but why were you 
so long in coming?” 

“I was right under the water all the time,” 
said Little Brown Seal, “Sometimes it takes 
a great deal to keep away such bold fellows 
as those and I thought it would be better 
for you to tire them out a little before I 
came up. If they come back, there are likely 
to be a ^ whole lot more feathers floating on 
the sea.” 

The two companions traveled on together 
all that day, but the pirates never were seen 
by them again in those waters. They had 
been sufficiently frightened and had prob- 




PIRATES AGAIN 


117 


ably concluded that Baby was too well pro¬ 
tected for them to catch her. 

Night came on at last and with her fright 
and the long, long day of travel Baby Laugh¬ 
ing Loon was glad enough to tuck her head 
under her wing and go fast to sleep, “rocked 
in the cradle of the deep.” While she slept 
strange changes were going on up in the 
sky, changes which at first she would not 
understand. 

She awoke at last “to a world unknown.” 
While she slept everything had turned white. 
Everything but the sea and that was looking 
very gray at the sight of things about it. 
Beneath a hood of white, Little Brown Seal 
was cheerfully looking at her. She had half 
a mind to be frightened, the sky looked so 
very strange, all white as it was. As she 
looked she saw that it was all make up of 
little particles. 

“Oh!” she exclaimed clapping her wings 
in her excitement, “the sky has all come to 
pieces and is falling down!” 




118 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


Little Brown Seal enjoyed this more than 
ever. He was very much older than Baby 
and wouldn t make such a queer mistake. 
He was just going to tell her how it all war 
when Baby said something which told him 
it might be much better to let her find things 
out for herself, a little at a time. 

Good! good!” she exclaimed, clapping 
her wings louder than ever, “I believe I 
can get thousands and thousands of those 
little pieces under each wing and go flying 
away over the sky which is all falling down!” 
This was such a strange idea that Little 
Brown Seal had to laugh in spite of him¬ 
self, but Baby thought he was just laughing 
for joy and felt more sure than ever that 
she could do it. 

I shouldn t be at all surprised if you 
could, said Little Brown Seal after a while. 

It would not be strange at all.” 

Then, with her heart beating very loudly 
Baby gave a great spring out of the water 
at the same time spreading each wing over 




PIRATES AGAIN 


119 


thousands and thousands of pieces of the 
sky. Up she went right into the air just 
jumping from one thousand of pieces to 
another with every fresh flap of her strong 
wings. Away, and away she went till she 
was hid by the bits of sky and Little Brown 
Seal saw her no more. 

“She is just like a great many other people 
in the world,” said Little Brown Seal to 
himself, “She needs to think she has some¬ 
thing a little extra to hold her up. Those 
little bits of snow wouldn’t hold up the 
least bit of moss blown about by a summer 
breeze, but she didn’t know that. Her 
wings were strong enough all the time and 
now she will go flying home to her friends 
and her mother. I shall miss her very much 
but winter will be here very quickly and 
she would have starved on the ice while I 
can have my home right where it is thickest. 
Next spring I shall see her again.” Then 
he gave a little flip and was gone. 

On and on Little Baby Laughing Loon 
went fast as the wind. Such fun as it was 




120 THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


jumping from bit to bit of the falling sky! 
Then at last she began thinking of Little 
Brown Seal, and how kind he had been to 
her and quite forgot where she was. At 
last she looked about her and saw everything 
strange. The falling sky was all gone and 
she was sailing through just nothing at all, 
or that’s the way it seemed to her. Whe’e’e! 
she was frightened just for a moment but 
then she thought to herself, “If I can go 
along here I can go anywhere so away I 
go, and she went spinning on faster than 
ever. That is how Baby Laughing Loon 
discovered what the sky really was and how 
she might make it her home. 
















GOD’S GREAT MOVING PICTURES 


It was Autumn now and far away in her 
own northern land was little Miss Snow 
Bunting, and near her in their snug home 
were our little Eskimo friends. Down from 
the north had stolen the cold, cold winter 
time. So silently had he come upon the 
land that he caught all the willow shrubs 
with their summer dresses on and all winter 
long they shivered and sighed as they were 
tossed about by the winter blasts which 
rustled their summer gowns. To Miss Snow 
Bunting this was the most happy time, in¬ 
deed, for she hid herself away beneath the 
skirts of a short chubby willow, and behind 
these protecting covers, she defied the fiercest 
blast. All night long as she heard the ice 
crackling and booming away, as winter 
sewed the blanket over even the black old 


121 


122 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


ocean, she was snug and warm. Then the 
sun left and the many, many stars, the 
twinkling golden snowflakes of the sky, came 
out and stayed all day and night. Miss Snow 
Bunting was very happy in her winter abode, 
and there were things to eat, too. Oh! 
Plenty of things to eat! There were whole 
fields of spicy flower seeds stowed away in 
little pods on the hillsides, while at the foot 
of the hills were bushes and bushes of lus¬ 
cious frozen blueberries, and the tundra was 
waving red here and there with dried salmon 
berries. This living in Alaska land in the 
long, long winter time is not without a most 
wonderful reward. 

We must not forget that the little Eskimo 
boy and girl had said that it would be nice 
to stay in this, their own land for a very, 
very special reason. Well, one night when 
the golden moon was circling low, almost 
touching the blanket of old ocean, and the 
golden snowflakes were winking, winking at 
one another and at Miss Snow Bunting, there 
came a moment when all the frozen land 




GOD’S GREAT MOVING PICTURES 


123 


seemed to be expecting something, some¬ 
thing very grand, indeed! As she put her 
baby fox to sleep, Mrs. Fox might have 
been whispering, “Sleep now, for by and 
by you must waken.” So the little folks 
hid their eyes and went right to sleep, for 
indeed they must be wide awake by and 
by. In her snug home under the skirts of 
the willow, perhaps Miss Snow Bunting was 
saying to herself, “I’ll just take one little 
nap now, just a quick nap; then I’ll be fresh 
and bright for seeing and understanding it 
all.” The black ravens did not forget, nor 
Black Fox, nor his relatives, Red Fox and 
Silver Fox, nor Violet Blue Fox nor Cross 
Fox. They all remembered. Tusks, the 
walrus, burst a hole through the solid blanket 
of the ocean to see and Little Brown Seal 
breathed on his air hole to keep it open so 
he could peek out. Everyone, everywhere, 
even Omnok, the hunter, put down the thing 
he was working at and seemed to be waiting, 
waiting for something great and wonderful 
to happen. 




124 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


Now and then Mrs. White Bear looked 
out of her ice palace toward the northern 
sky. Little Miss Snow Bunting looked too, 
and so did all the creatures of the northern 
world except the children who were asleep. 

At last it seemed to be coming. Some¬ 
thing was appearing in the northern sky. 
What was it? The little Eskimo boy and 
girl were awake and whispered, “Is it going 
to be beautiful?” The mothers and fathers 
only put their hands over the children’s 
mouths, and said, “Sh! don’t talk; just look.” 

“I wonder if it is really coming?” the lit¬ 
tle girl whispered as she put her hand over 
her heart to still its beating. 

Far in the northern sky something was 
coming. Something very great and far more 
wonderful than the golden sun or the silvery 
moon. It grew brighter and brighter, till 
at last one could tell just what it was. 

“Yes, yes,” whispered the little boy, “it 
is coming; there is the curtain. It is com¬ 
ing.” They sat quite still, half hiding under 




GOD’S GREAT MOVING PICTURES 


125 


the warm folds of their mothers deer-skin 
porka. 

Before them hung the mightiest, most 
beautiful, most wonderful curtain that ever 
man or creature saw. No king’s palace was 
ever hung with curtain half so magnificient. 
A light golden yellow its folds were at first, 
with the deep gray of an autumn sea hidden 
behind them. Turning like the rays of an 
autumn moon, it grew golden as harvest, 
and all the time it spread across the sky a 
thousand miles high and wide as the world 
is wide. Slowly the colors changed to a 
golden red while behind its folds deepened 
the dark, dark green of some long-lost ocean 
cave. The little girl hid her face for awe of 
it. We may be sure all the little foxes and 
the little bears, all the reindeer and caribou, 
all the wolves and the ptarmigan came out to 
see, and before this great and mysterious cur¬ 
tain stood in silence, longing for God’s great 
moving pictures to appear, yet fearing almost 
to look, and indeed fearing very much to 





Turning like the 


rays of 


an autumn moon. 


126 











































GOD’S GREAT MOVING PICTURES 


127 


move or to say one word lest the great 
wonder might vanish. 

Slowly the curtain began to rise. Up, up, 
slowly it rolled up, up, while all eyes stared, 
all hearts beat high, all lips were still. But 
right here we must stop, for only to those 
brave people and those hardy creatures of 
the far northland is it given to know what 
is done in God’s great moving pictures. If 
you would know, you must go to live there 
years and years and years. It can not be 
truly told, and the creatures of this arctic land 
could never tell. 

All that can be told is that after hours 
and hours of grandeur and splendor, the peo¬ 
ple all went back to their homes silent, not 
saying one word, but just thinking. We 
may know this; to the great and powerful 
the pictures meant something very different 
than they did to the meek and gentle, but to 
each there was a message just as there would 
be to any one of us if we were to live years 
and years in that strange, silent, lonesome 
land. If we were to guess, we would say 




128 


THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 


that to the great and strong the pictures 
would tell of the greatness and strength of 
God, and to the meek and lowly ones they 
would tell of God’s great goodness. 

As for the little boy and girl, they crept 
away back into their cozy home, and were 
not sorry—no, not sorry at all, but glad as 
glad could be that they were not with the 
bird folks in their southern winter homes. 
They felt that the glory of this one night 
was worth all the darkness and the lonesome¬ 
ness and the silence they had endured in 
this their own land, and we may be sure 
that is just the way we would feel if we 
ever went to live in that wonderful land. 

If, on some cold winter’s night you chance 
to be looking away toward that northern 
land, and you catch faint glimpses of some 
lights shooting toward the sky from far, far 
away, and men tell you it is the aurora or 
the northern lights, just remember that this 
is the time when the folks of that cold land 
are viewing once more, as often before, the 
wonders of God’s great moving pictures. 




BOOK TWO 



STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 



tf/AVOW. 


—- 


--- 


- —-:■ - 




^iVivMhWy. 


— 


. 


“Watch Your Step?* Shouted Stormy 
From Story Old Giant Whale. 



























































































'-ftr* 

TFlANtfELAN 

BIRD ! LIFE 

‘"^He: BOOK OF ANTARCTIC BIRDS 


STORMY PETREL 

STORMY PETREL stood 
first on one foot, then on the 
other. He cocked his head 
on one side, the better to 
catch the howl of the wind, 
then closed one eye and 
squinted away at the whirling snow which swept 
by the door step to his cavern in the sea’s rocky 
cliff. Stormy Petrel has been called the tramp 
among the birds of the sea. Whether he would 
answer to the name I cannot tell. This much he 
would admit, and I don’t doubt he’d be a bit 



7 


8 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


proud of it—that is, he is a wanderer. Just at this 
moment he was going dreamily over the jour¬ 
neys he had taken across the wild and restless 
sea. The cold and rock-bound coast of Green¬ 
land, the stormy English channel, the balmy 
southern isles—all these and many more passed 
before his vision. O yes, Stormy was a trav¬ 
eler; and tramp or no tramp, he wasn’t such a 
bad bird, after all. He never robbed the homes 
of his comrades. Oh, he might take a bite to 
eat now and then, but that was customary, you 
know. Stormy never looked into windows at 
night or jumped out from bushes to frighten 
little children, and he never prowled about 
homes when the men folks were gone, so you 
may well guess he was a very model sort of 
tramp, if tramp he were at all. 

But Stormy was troubled just this moment. 
Here he was, far, far to the north in Alaska. 
Here he had camped during the short summer, 




STORMY PETREL 


9 



I’ll Just Oil Up My Wings and Sail Away 


and a very delightful time he had made of it, 
too. For two long months there had been no 
nights at all, and even when the sun did begin 
to set it stayed down only a very short time, 
and only served to make the sunlight and twi¬ 
light the more delightful. But now, so very 
early, it seemed to Stormy, here was a snow¬ 
storm whirling before his door, and the wind 
singing wild songs of winter and famine! 

“I’ll just oil up and sail away the moment 
it stops,” he said to himself, beginning at once 
to prepare for his departure. 








10 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


“I’ll stop on my way south at Eskimo 
Island. I think some of my old friends, 
Specks, the Eider Duck, or Little Baby Laugh¬ 
ing Loon, or Mrs. Gray Goose will be there, 
and if they are I shall be certain of a fine din¬ 
ner of shrimp and clam chowder. How good 
some of that chowder would taste right at this 
moment!” 

But when Stormy arrived at the island a 
few days later he found not a creature there to 
greet him. All the beds in all the homes were 
mussed and some of them were all damp from 
the spray that had blown in from the terrible 
storm. The doors of the Puffin homes were 
blocked with snow, and there was not a scrap 
of anything left to eat. Stormy suspected Little 
White Fox and the long-nosed Mice children 
of having looted the village when the people 
had gone away. In this being alone, Stormy felt 
the cold wind blow through his thin jacket all 




STORMY PETREL 


11 



He Found Not a Person There To Greet Him 


the more keenly for the lack of friends and 
food. It’s all very well to be a wanderer when 
the sun is shining and when you are among 
people, but when you are on a desert island 
and the wind is howling mournfully about you, 
it is very different. Very different, indeed! 

“Next year I’ll settle down somewhere,” 
said Stormy to himself, “and I’ll stop this rov¬ 
ing life. If I can find a real bird town some¬ 
where and find steady work of some kind, I 
will stay there.” 




12 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


But just then he spied something down on 
the beach which warmed his heart. He could 
look right into Big White Bear’s kitchen, and 
as usual there was a great quantity of cold meat 
waiting for the next fellow who came along. 
The next fellow this time was Stormy Petrel, 
and when he had eaten his fill he didn’t feel 
nearly so lonesome nor half so cold. And 
when, three days later, as he wheeled along 
before a wild whirling storm and was passing 
through the straits which separate the Old 
World from the New, he sighted a whaling 
schooner laden with rich ivory, skins, and tons 
and tons of whale-bone, making its way to the 
southward. 

He made haste to ascend and catch his 
breath in the lee of the sheltering whaler. 
Right then he forgot all about his fine plans, 
for if there is anything a member of the wan¬ 
dering Petrel tribe likes better than any other, 
it is to sail along day after day, in the wake of 
some great steamer or schooner. Every day the 




STORMY PETREL 13 



He Sighted a Whaling Schooner 


cooks throw out quantities and quantities of 
choice morsels, and if these are not enough, 
there are always the sailors who love the little 
wanderers and care for them very well. “For,” 
they say among themselves, “if Mother Carey’s 
chickens are with us we must have a safe 
voyage, else what would come of the dame’s 
precious chicks?” The sailors call the wan¬ 
derers “Mother Carey’s chickens,” which I am 
sure you will agree is an odd name for a sea 
tramp, but then sailors are a jolly strange 
crowd anyway. 








STORMY PETREL LOST 



HERE am I?” said Stormy, 
stretching himself, and at last 
rubbing one eye open to look 
about him. All about him 
was lumber. The smell of it 
was pleasing. He had a mind to turn over and 
take another little nap. 

“Must have slept late,” he thought to him¬ 
self as he blinked at the sun high in the 
heavens. He tried to think what had hap¬ 
pened the night before. He had reached a fine 
southern port, with the whaling schooner, and 


immediately out in the bay he had come upon 
some of his friends from the north land. There 
was Tommie Specks, the Eider Duck—Tom¬ 
mie had grown to be quite a gay fellow—and 


14 


STORMY PETREL LOST 


15 



Eider Duck 


there was a great number of the Puffin folks 
and some of the Gray Goose family. A gay 
party it must have been, to be sure. And a 
gay time they had of it, he was certain. But 
somehow, he seemed to remember faintly that 
the party was ended by a fight, and he felt 
rather certain that he had been fighting him¬ 
self. When he felt of his head he was very 
sure of it, but who the other fellow had been 
he had no notion at all. 

“How that sun does jump about!” he ex- 







16 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


claimed, suddenly startled. Leaping to his 
feet, he walked a bit unsteadily to the end of 
the planks he had been sleeping on. He looked 
right down into a sea of tumbling waves! 

“Well!” He scratched his head. “Well! 
Shanghaied!” And shanghaied it was. (Shang¬ 
haied is a sailor’s way of saying “carried out to 
sea against one’s own wishes.”) The day be¬ 
fore he had looked over all the crafts in the 
harbor and tried to choose between a splendid 
coastwise schooner and a great liner bound for 
the Orient, and here he was on board a poor, 
rough lumber schooner bound for some un¬ 
known place. He had gone to sleep on board 
her and she had sailed out to sea in the night. 

“Serves me right enough,” he reflected. 
“I have no business being out late nights and 
getting lost. O well, anyway the sailors on 




STORMY PETREL LOST 


17 


these rough craft are a kind enough lot, and it 
might be a great deal worse.” At this he 
stretched out his stiffened wings and went soar¬ 
ing away to find his breakfast in the wake of 
the ship, and to announce to the sailors that he 
had been a stowaway in their rough schooner. 
And right gladly he was received, you may 
be sure. 








STORMY AT THE BIG CANAL 



ITORMY looked lost and very 
much alone in the world. 
And indeed he was alone in 
a strange land. He wouldn’t 
have minded that so much, 
but to add to all this it was hot, burning hot! 
His wings drooped pitifully as he walked along 
the baking sand of the beach. 

“I wonder where it could have gone to?” 
he said to himself. He was thinking of the 
lumber schooner which he had followed for 
days and weeks and perhaps for a month. He 
could keep no track of time. He only knew 
that it was time the weather was growing cool 
in all the lands he had visited before, but that 
here it had been growing warmer and warmer 


18 




His Wings Drooped As He Walked Along the Baking Sand of the Beach 


19 


20 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


every day he journeyed south, and now at last 
his ship had put in at a port, and though he 
had watched the port carefully, the ship had 
disappeared in the night, and he was unable to 
tell where it had gone. 

“Those were good sailors, and I always 
had plenty to eat. I am sorry I missed them,” 
he said thoughtfully to himself. “Have they 
gone out of the harbor into the open sea? 
Where could they have gone?” 

The worst part of it was that he had found 
no one to ask about it. So many folks down 
here spoke strange tongues! Almost all of 
them did, in fact, and Stormy could see as he 
watched them that half the time they could not 
understand even one another. 

But just as he was walking down the beach 
trying to solve these new life problems he heard 
someone shouting in a language he understood. 
It was a brownish dog who had come down to 





“Hello ” Said the Dog 


the beach to hunt for dead fish washed in by 
die waves. Whether he was attempting to sing, 
or was calling to a companion Stormy could 
not tell, and did not care, for at last here was 
someone of whom he could ask questions about 
this strange land. 

“Hello,” said the dog, as Stormy came 
drooping up. He recognized in Stormy an old 
friend. 

“Hello,” said Stormy, standing on one 













22 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


foot, and trying to assume a natural air in spite 
of the heat. “What are you doing down here?” 

“My master brought me down. He’s look¬ 
ing after some things in connection with the 
big canal.” 

“Oh!” said Stormy, trying hard to make 
the impression that he knew all about the canal, 
which he didn’t. 

“But what are you doing down here?” 
asked the dog. 

“I came down as guest on a lumber 
schooner. Came ashore to find something to 
eat and lost her. I wonder where she could 
have gone to?” 

“Probably through the big canal,” said the 
dog, grinning, for he knew at once that Stormy 
didn’t know a thing about the canal, or he 
would have known that the lumber schooner 
would be going that way, as all lumber 
schooners did *hese days. 




STORMY AT THE BIG CANAL 


23 


Well, Stormy had to admit at last that he 
was very ignorant of this strange land, and 
was glad enough to have the dog tell him all 
about the warm canal zone and the great 
Panama Canal, through which the greatest 
ships of all the earth could pass from one ocean 
to the other. But the dog could tell Stormy 
nothing of the land which lay still to the south¬ 
ward. 

“I don’t think I should care to take a trip 
through the canal,” said Stormy. “I have heard 
that some of the bird folks of the land are very 
dangerous fellows, and would rather destroy and 
eat you than to look at you—Old Baldy, the 
eagle, and Grey Coat, the hawk, and such as 
they.” 

Stormy took a friendly farewell of this old 
acquaintance, who went on hunting dead fish 
while Stormy went out on the ocean where it 
was cooler to think things out. Here he was 




24 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


in a warm, warm country, and nearly all the 
ships were going right through the land where 
he did not care to follow. His friends on the 
lumber schooner were far away on some other 
waters by this time, so he need never hope to 
see them again. 

What was he to do? Should he join 
some ship coming out of the canal and go¬ 
ing back to the land from which he came? 
Should he go still farther south? He was quite 
sure that he could not endure a much warmer 
country than this. If it grew warmer and 
warmer as he went on southward he was quite 
sure he would perish. But somehow, he felt 
that the sailors could not stand more heat than 
he could, which was right. 

He didn’t know just what would happen, 
but anyway he felt that there would be a change 
of some sort if he kept going south, and he was 
very, very eager to discover what that strange 





STORMY AT THE BIG CANAL 25 



He Wheeled High in the Air, Circled About and Lighted on Its Lee 


change could be, and he was also very eager, as 
every wanderer is, to see some new lands and 
have some new adventures. So when he saw a 
little steamer pull out of the harbor and turn to 
the southward, he wheeled high in air, circled 
about, and lighted on its lee. He was at once 
greeted with cheers from the strange sailors, and 
thus began his further trip into the land where 
the days grew warmer and warmer. 




























GOING SOUTH INTO THE COLD 



“1\ /|"Y!” said Stormy to himself, as he 
J. VX dropped to the water and fanned him¬ 
self with his wings, “If this keeps up another 
week I shall surely perish.” 

They had been traveling steadily south¬ 
ward, for days and days, and always it had 
been growing warmer. But just at that 
moment he noticed the sailors acting very 
strangely on deck. They seemed to be doing 
things to the new men and at last one of them 
looked out at the open sea and shouted, “See! 
There it is! There it is! The Equator! The 
Equator!” 


26 




















































GOING SOUTH INTO THE COLD 


27 


Stormy looked and looked and looked, but 
he could see nothing but little black waves such 
as there were everywhere, and bits of drifting sea 
plants which were not uncommon at all. “I 
wonder what they were talking about,” he said 
to himself as he spread his wings and prepared 
to continue his journey. 

Three days later Stormy lifted his face to 
a breeze that was coming from the south. “I 
do believe it really feels cool!” he exclaimed. 
“A cool breeze from the south!” 

A week later he was very, very sure the 
weather was becoming much cooler and they 
were still journeying southward. The strang¬ 
est part of all was that they were now at that 
time of year when, in the lands he had visited 
before, it should be growing warmer and 
warmer toward the hot summer time, yet here 
they were every day going on and on into 
cooler and cooler climes. He couldn’t figure it 




28 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


out, but it was so very delightful after the great 
heat he had endured that he just drifted happily 
on the waves or skimmed along in the vessel’s 
lee, and refused to puzzle much about it. 

On and on they traveled, day after day. 
Sometimes his ship turned back to the north, 
but at such times he waited for another little 
steamer which was going south. Always he 
found a welcome from the strange sailors, 
though he could not understand a word of the 
strange tongue which most of them spoke. 

“Rock me to sleep, mother, 

I’m going round the Horn.” 

Stormy heard a stray English sailor singing it 
as the sun went down one night. He wondered 
what it meant, that song of the sailor. He was 
going to find out, but not right away. 

He went to sleep that night safe on the 
waves. The wind was contrary to the sailing 
vessel he was following, and he felt quite sure 




GOING SOUTH INTO THE COLD 29 



On and On They Traveled, Day After Day 


he would have no trouble in finding it in the 
morning. 

But when morning came, a strange thing 
had happened. The ship had vanished! Strain 
his eyes as he might, and look this way or that, 
he could not discover it, and there was not the 
least fog on the sea at that! 

Hastily he spread his wings and flew 
swiftly southward, “For,” he said to himself, 
“there has been no port in sight and they must 
have gone south.” 

But when he had sailed on and on to the 
southward for hours and hours, and had not 























30 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


sighted them he gave up and settled down on 
the water, a very lonely old traveler in the midst 
of a dark, dark, old ocean which now every 
day was growing colder and colder till Stormy 
found it difficult, indeed, to keep his toes warm. 

“And the strangest part of it all is,” he 
said to himself, “that it is June and should be 
warm even in the far, far northland.” 

But his usual strong heart gave him cour¬ 
age, and he felt sure that should he continue 
southward things would be different. He 
would come to some new land, and find some 
new ship to follow. 

And at last he did come to a land. But 
such a strange land as it was! Cold and bleak 
and barren! Not a soul in sight, and no ships! 
Just such a land as Arctic region and Alaska. 

“I must have come back to the land of 
Big White Bear, Little White Fox, Little Miss 
Snow Bunting, and the rest,” Stormy said to 
himself, as he lighted on a pinnacle of ice to 
look about. “But where can they all be? I do 






































































































































32 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


not so much as see a trace of them anywhere. 
There are some tracks right over there, but they 
do not look like the tracks of anyone I have 
ever seen. I’ll just go over and look at them.” 

Stormy did go over, and just as he was 
bending over to examine them very, very care¬ 
fully, he heard a strange voice, and looking up, 
beheld a great company of large birds walking 
solemnly toward him. They were all dressed 
in long robes and caps like monks, and were 
quite as silent. They looked a great deal like 
the Puffin folks. But they were large! Why 
some of them must have been four feet tall! 

Stormy rubbed his eyes and stared. “I 
must have got some sea water down my throat. 
It is making me see things!” he said, rubbing 
his eyes again and again. But every time he 
looked, the strange procession was still there 
and coming closer and closer. 

“I might as well start out to meet them and 
see what will happen,” said Stormy to himself, 
and started toward them. 




HUSKIE, AN OLD FRIEND 


ITH slow steps and won¬ 
dering mind, Stormy ap¬ 
proached the great host of 
strangers. “How strangely 
big they are!” he thought to 
himself, “Why! some of 
them are more than half as tall as a man. And 



how dignified they look!” 

But he was far too curious about this 
strange land to allow either fear or wonder to 
keep him back and beside he was getting to 
feel lonesome as everyone must who is in a 
strange land where he does not know a single 
person, so he tramped forward to meet the 
strangers and was soon standing face to face 
with the tallest and gravest of them all. Behind 
the leader stood the great host in respectful 
silence, looking for all the world like a great 


33 


34 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 



Soon They Were Marching Out in An Orderly Array to Meet a New Stranger 


choir in some lofty cathedral, for it seemed to 
appear that every one of them wore a long black 
robe and a light gown beneath which showed 
where the dark folds fell back. 

Just as the tall, dignified stranger came 
close to Stormy, who, odd little tramp that he 
was, did not know what was going to happen, 
the stranger made a dignified bow, then he 
made three more dignified bows, then he began 
to make a speech. It turned out to be a very 
long speech indeed, but whether it was a ser¬ 
mon on the evils of being a tramp or just a 
plain speech of welcome Stormy will never 







HUSKIE AN OLD FRIEND 


35 



The Stranger Made a Dignified Bow 


know, for he understood never a word of this 
strange language. One word he heard over and 
over again and as we now know, he was a very 
bright fellow. When the speech was quite fin¬ 
ished he screamed the word, “Penguin” at the 
top of his voice. And all the host screamed 
their delight. He had guessed their names, for 
these, ineed, were the Penguin folks. After 
that Stormy repeated his own name, “Petrel, 
Petrel,” many times to them and they repeated 
it after him, “Petrel, Petrel,” and then of course 







36 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


they all felt very well acquainted indeed, for did 
they not know one another’s names? Then 
nothing would do but Stormy must go home 
with them for lunch. And a splendid feast it 
was, though Stormy could not have named one 
of the dishes set before him. 

Next morning just as he had finished eat¬ 
ing his breakfast with his host, the greatest 
Penguin, who looked very much like some 
mighty ruler and was in fact a very Emperor 
Penguin, Stormy saw his host rise suddenly and 
go out as if to look after some urgent business. 
He followed, and found the whole village 
assembled as when he had appeared among 
them. Soon they were marching out in orderly 
array to meet some new visitor. Stormy was so 
short that he could see nothing among these 
folks about four-foot high. But when they 
came to a stand-still he crowded out from 
among the throng, and in just another moment 
heard a voice say to him: 




HUSKIE AN OLD FRIEND 


37 


“Hello! hello!” in perfectly good English. 

“How are you!” exclaimed Stormy, over¬ 
joyed to meet an old friend. It was none other 
than Huskie, the Malamute dog, whom he had 
known in Alaska some years before. Huskie 
seemed to be grinning from ear to ear. But the 
Penguin folks, not understanding what had been 
said, were as solemn as owls. And very soon 
the Emperor began his long speech, of which 
Huskie understood very little, but to which he 
listened very attentively out of respect, no 
doubt, for the customs of the country. When 
this ceremony was finished, the company broke 
up into little groups and Stormy edged his way 
over toward Huskie. He was sure now that 
this was Alaska, for if it were not how could 
Huskie get here since he could not fly? There 
were many, many questions he wanted to ask 
Huskie about his strange adventures. 




38 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


“Now,” said Stormy, after he had told all 
his strange experiences, “I want to ask you 
some questions.” 

“Go ahead. Ask as many as you like,” 
said Huskie, grinning from ear to ear. “I shall 
be glad to answer all of them.” 

“What I want to know, in the first place,” 
said Stormy, standing on one foot and scratch¬ 
ing his right shin with the toe of his left foot, 
“is, how could I get north by going south?” 

Huskie wanted to laugh right out loud at 
this, but he didn’t. So he politely said, “Why, 
you didn’t. You’re not north now, you’re 
south.” 

“South!” exclaimed Stormy, more puzzled 
than ever. “Isn’t this Alaska? But if it is, 
where is White Bear, where’s Little White Fox, 
where’s Tusks, the walrus, and Tdariuk, the 
reindeer, where’s all the rest of the folks I used 
to know?” Stormy had grown quite excited. 







Said Huskie 


39 















40 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


and was staring at Huskie as if he were likely 
at any moment to jump up and pinch his nose. 

“Do not ask your questions so fast,” said 
Huskie, “and I will explain. This isn’t Alaska, 
and none of the people you speak of have ever 
lived here. This is almost a new world alto¬ 
gether. When you knocked at Mrs. Eider 
Duck’s door and found her not at home you 
were very near the Arctic Circle. Now you 
are very near the Antarctic Circle, and those 
two circles are thousands and thousands of 
miles apart, and though they run round the 
earth for ten thousand years they’ll never be 
one foot nearer together anyway, that’s what 
my master, the geography man, says, and he 
ought to know, for he spends all his time 
making strange drawings on paper to help 
small children with when they go to school.” 

“Oh-h!” Stormy took a long breath, and 
tried to get the world turned right side up in 




HUSKIE AN OLD FRIEND 


41 


his own mind. “A cold, cold country and no 
White Bear, no Tusks, the walrus, no Little 
White Fox, no Tdariuk, the reindeer! What a 
strange land and how lonesome it must be!” 

“Oh, no, you’re wrong,” said Huskie, 
seeming to read what was in Stormy’s mind. 
“It’s not so bad. There are many people living 
here, especially in the summer time. And the 
most interesting people in the world are these 
same Penguin people you have just been stay¬ 
ing with. But you must come right home with 
me. My master will be more than glad to see 
anyone from his home town. He brought me 
down here to keep him company and to show 
him about in this cold land, but I sometimes 
think he even grows tired of me in these long, 
long nights. But never mind, by the first of 
October it will be very fine and warm indeed, 
and by Christmas it will be splendid summer 




42 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


time,” he added with a merry wink, seeing how 
confusing all these strange conditions were to 
poor Stormy who had always lived in the 
northern hemisphere. 

Huskie’s master was a tall, strong, white 
man, a scientist and an explorer. He was glad 
to see Stormy, but instead of making him a 
long speech as the Penguin people had done, 
he threw him a choice bit of blubber, which 
pleased Stormy very much better than the 
speech. 

When Stormy had had a good night’s sleep 
he felt quite ready for any new adventure and 
quite sure he would like this country very well, 
if ever he had his difficult geography lesson 
learned. 

“Huskie says these Penguin folks are the 
most interesting people in the world,” he said 
to himself, “and I shouldn’t wonder a bit if he 
was right.” 




PENGUIN VILLAGE 



'GREAT red beam of sun¬ 
shine was slowly lifting the 
sun out of a dark blue pool of 
ocean. Stormy Petrel, our 
jolly tramp of the sea, 
watched it till it sank slowly 
into the sea and left the sun to roll by itself along 
the blue waters. Stormy had long since learned 
his geography lesson of the South Polar Sea, and 
had learned much of the language of Penguin 
land as well, and now he was going with these 
staid and solemn folks to their summer home 


where, they had assured him, they would build 
real houses of stone, lay out streets, and live 
for all the world like humans. 


The days had grown longer, water had ap¬ 
peared here and there on the ice floes. Stormy 


43 



44 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


knew it was coming spring, and he was anxious 
to be away. Already his friends, Huskie the 
malamute dog, and the Geography man, had 
packed up their camp and gone to the north¬ 
ward. Stormy had liked his Penguin friends 
so well that he stayed behind, but now he was 
glad to be on the move. He took his place in 
line, and away they marched single file, making 
quite a solid roadway as they traveled. Stormy 
had no trouble in keeping up the gait walking 
till his companions came to a steep hill. Once 
at the top they lay flat down on their stomachs, 
and with their heavy robes for sleds, went to¬ 
bogganing to the bottom in a hurry. This left 
Stormy far behind, but he was not long in start¬ 
ing to fly, and soon he was airshipping along far 
over their heads, and did not stop till he was at 
the top of the next hill, from which he could 
watch their slow-winding progress, which re¬ 
minded him of nothing half so much as the gold 
seekers of his own Alaska as they made their 
way to some new diggings. 




PENGUIN VILLAGE 


45 


“I am going to live in a real feathered folks’ 
town,” Stormy exclaimed joyously, as he 
watched the long line of people toiling up the 
hill, “a real town, with streets and houses and 
all the home comforts. If I had just been 
brought up in a place like that, perhaps I should 
not have become a tramp. But perhaps it was 
so lonesome way out in the country that I just 
couldn’t like it. But now, I hope I can give 
up my wanderings and settle down with these 
sensible, quiet people in their real town.” 

“It must be grand to live in a real town,” he 
repeated to Emperor Penguin, as he reached 
the crest of the hill before his companions. 

Emperor just looked at Stormy and said 
nothing. Someway Stormy couldn’t help think¬ 
ing there was a rather odd look in his eyes as 
he flopped down on his stomach and went to¬ 
bogganing down the hill toward that real town 
with streets and hundreds of houses. 

“We have now reached our place,” spoke 
the Emperor a few days later. He said it rather 




46 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 



Went Tobogganing to the Bottom in a Hurry 


cheerfully, as he looked about over the great 
level stretch of land before them. 

“But where’s the town?” asked Stormy in 
surprise. 

“We will have to build that,” said the Em¬ 
peror, seizing a fair-sized stone and making 
for the level land. He established himself on 
the highest, dryest place, and soon all the Pen¬ 
guins had grouped themselves about him, all 
at short distances from one another, and were 





PENGUIN VILLAGE 


47 



Men and If omen Alike Carrying Stones 


all busy bringing stones from the beach with 
which to mark their claim. Stormy was obliged 
to admit that when they were all in their places 
things began to look very much like the begin¬ 
ning of a town. 

Very soon indeed, there were streets well 
laid out and trampled down by the hurrying 
feet of the busy workers as they marched back 
and forth, male and female alike carrying 
stones for their new homes. They worked in¬ 
dustriously for some time, but by and by they 
seemed to be growing tired, and one by one 
they paused in the midst of the new houses to 




48 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 



Rubbing One Another*s Necks 


rest, and it was not any time at all before some 
of the younger people began billing and cooing 
and rubbing one another’s neck. Now, the 
walls were not built much higher than their 
boot tops, so when Stormy saw them he said 
to the Emperor, “Why don’t they wait till the 
houses are built all the way up?” 

“Oh, that’s about as high as we build our 
houses,” said the Emperor. “They are only 
summer houses anyway, and that is our young 
folks custom.” 

Stormy was surprised at this as he had 




PENGUIN VILLAGE 


49 


thought their town was to be a really grand 
place and with many rules, and here was his 
friend, the Emperor, telling him that there were 
very few rules for the young people and that 
all their houses were to be very little more than 
low walls after all. 

But just then Stormy saw something that 
made him look very sharply. He wasn’t quite 
sure, but it seemed to him that he saw Em¬ 
peror’s next door neighbor reach over and steal 
a stone from Emperor’s wall while he was look¬ 
ing the other way. He watched sharply out of 
the corner of his eye and sure enough he did! 
The other fellow reached right over and took 
a second stone from the Emperor’s wall. 

“Ha! Caught you at it!” exclaimed 
Stormy, more shocked than ever. 

The only answer he received was a bang 
across the side of his head that sent him spin¬ 
ning way over three lots into another fellow’s 
backyard. He was not wanted there either, so 
a lusty kick sent him right into the middle of 




50 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 



He Saw Emperor's Next Door Neighbor Reach Over and Steal a Stone 


another yard. Here he was seized quickly by 
the ear and sent spinning right out of town. 

“Well!” he exclaimed, when he had about 
recovered his breath to realize what had hap¬ 
pened. “Well! I don’t believe that I like living 
in a town near as well as I thought I should.” 
Just then he looked over where his friend Em¬ 
peror was standing and saw him steal a stone 
from one of his neighbors when his back was 
turned. 

“Well!” said Stormy, straightening up. 
“These people certainly have queer habits, and 







PENGUIN VILLAGE 


51 


I don’t like them for that. I’m going back 
to my old friend Huskie and the Geography 
man. I’ll come back later though, and see if 
I can’t get a boy to take with me on my travels. 
A boy’s good company for a tramp to have 
traveling with him,” and away he sailed back 
to Huskie and his master. 



Emperor 


Penguin 






THE SNOW STORM 


ENGUIN TOWN was not 
after all as bad as Stormy Pet¬ 
rel thought it. People who 
live in town very often get 
along well enough among 
themselves, but a stranger 
finds it rather hard to come in and join their 
group in peace, especially if he is a tramp and 
seems to desire to meddle with other folks’ habits. 
The Penguin people did steal without shame 
from one another, but then everyone expected 
it, and it had become a game of wits among 
them each spring. In due time things settled 
down to the natural life of a small town, and 
very soon there was a large egg in every home. 
Then Father and Mother Penguin took turns 
about holding the eggs on their knees to keep it 
up from the cold, damp earth. This, with the 



52 



THE SNOW STORM 


53 



Little Mannie Penguin 


hunting for food, kept them busy enough most 
all of the time. 

It was a very well-ordered town, then, into 
which Little Mannie Penguin, the Emperor’s 
son, wakened one fine morning when the 
sun was shining all day and all night. He was 
dressed in a dark woolen suit and a black hood 
that covered everything but the tip of his nose 
and his two eyes. But his head was so very, 
very heavy that he was unable to straighten it 
up and look about him. He was so very sleepy 
that he soon closed his eyes and slept on his 
mother’s knees, half hidden by the folds of the 
great warm robe she wore. 




54 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 



From time to time he was moved from his 
mother’s lap to his father’s without being wak¬ 
ened at all. At last, after many hours he awoke 
again feeling very hungry. His head did not 
seem so heavy. With a great effort he lifted his 
head and looked about him. Then he tried to 
say he was hungry. His proud parents under¬ 
stood, and he was at once fed by his mother 
while his father looked smilingly on. Very 
soon he was toddling about his little home, bid¬ 
ding fair to grow large and strong very rapidly 
and be just the kind of a boy old tramp, Stormy 
Petrel was looking for to take with him on his 




THE SNOW STORM 


55 



How the Wind Blows! 


wanderings, though this, I am sure you will 
agree, would not be the right thing at all for 
Mannie Penguin to do. 

“How the wind blows!” exclaimed Mother 
Penguin one day, “I do believe we are going to 
have a terrible blizzard.” She tucked her 
warm robe about Mannie till nothing could 
be seen of him but his nose and his sharp little 
eyes. She turned her back to the wind, but in 
spite of all that, she felt the keen bite of the 
wind through her robe and gown. 

“I think we are going to have a hard time 
of it,” she shivered, “but you just never mind. 







56 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


Your mother will not desert you. She bent 
down and tucked Mannie in a little closer and 
gave him a fond pat. Nobody in the world is 
more fond of her children than Mother Pen¬ 
guin is, and no one will fight longer and harder 
to protect them from danger. 

Wilder and wilder the wind blew. Soon 
sharp bits of snow went cutting through the 
air. 

“Whew,—whew,—” they sang, “Through, 
through, 

Straight from the mountains, too. 

Hide your heads little Penguin chicks 

Under the robes so nice and thick. 

Whew! Whew! Through! Through! 
We’re coming through!” 

Soon the air was so white that when Man¬ 
nie looked out he could not see to his neigh¬ 
bor’s door-step. Soon the snow was piling up 
all about them and already it was almost up to 
his nose. 




THE SNOW STORM 


57 


“We’ll be buried,” he whispered to his 
mother. 

“It will be well if we are,” said his mother. 
“If not we may freeze.” 

“But I will smother,” he whispered back. 

“Oh, no, said his mother, “I’ll reach down 
now and then and make a little passage for the 
air to reach you. Do not be afraid. You will 
be snug as anything down there all covered 
with the downy flakes.” Nevertheless, she did 
wrinkle her brow, for in these terrible bliz¬ 
zards no one could tell how deep the snow 
would bury them, and it might easily be that 
the snow would go over her head. Then she 
knew that she must choose between leaving her 
child or dying with him. 

Deeper and deeper the snow piled, louder 
and louder the wind howled. But only 
Mrs. Penguin heard it; Mannie’s ears were 
buried deep in the snow, but still right down 
to his face came a little passage which his brave 
mother, shiver as she might, kept open all the 




58 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


while. In Mother Penguin’s mind the question 
came over and over again, “Will it not stop 
soon? Will it not stop soon? Is it not growing 
less now?” But always the answer came from 
the wind; 

Whew! Whew! to you, to you! 

Wild wind and snow, too, 

Coming to cover you. 

Whew! Whew! Whew! 

Long ago, Little Mannie had fallen asleep 
in his snug bed. “Will he ever awake?” 
Mama Penguin whispered to herself. Just then 
the wind paused to listen, and I think it under- 
stoood, for slowly, slowly, when the snow was 
almost above the tip of Mother Penguin’s hood, 
it stopped altogether and the sky became so 
clear that Mother Penguin could see the sun 
shining through. 

They were safe, but it was a long and tire¬ 
some time before the snow melted away enough 
for Mannie to leave his once warm nest, which 
was now quite flooded by melting snow, and 




THE SNOW STORM 


59 


go with his mother to a dry, safe place where 
Father Penguin could bring them food. 

They were very happy. But in their own 
happiness they could not help feeling sad, for 
where there had been a happy home next to 
their own, was one great drift of snow with 
never a sunken place in it, and that meant that 
some mother and her child had been buried 
there, or that the poor little fellow had been 
left to smother while his parents sought safety 
for themselves. Mother Penguin gave Mannie 
an extra loving tuck before she hid him away 
to dry, and gave three hoarse calls to her mate 
to come and bring them food. 








ARRIVAL OF THE ADELIE PENGUINS 



HE sun had been shining 
warm for days. The snow 
had melted and run away 
down the streets in little 
rivers, and the town was dry 
and comfortable again. 
Mannie was very happy and well-fed in his 
home. He was looking dreamily off toward the 
dark blue sea when he heard strange voices, 
many, many of them just down the street a 
short distance. They were coming closer and 
closer. Soon there appeared hundreds and hun¬ 
dreds of short, squatty fellows, not nearly as 
large as Emperor Penguin and his town’s folks. 
Had Mannie been but a real man he might have 
imagined them as wearing wooden shoes and 
smoking long-stemmed pipes. Then, too, he 
might have seen them carrying strange, foreign 
looking bags and bundles, and the women with 


60 



ARRIVAL OF THE ADELIE PENGUINS 


61 


shawls tied over their heads. But he wasn’t 
a real man, so he just thought of them as people 
very much like his own father and mother, only 
smaller and squattier than they. 

Very well behaved people they were. As 
they marched up the streets they did not move 
a pebble or molest a person. And well they 
might not, for if they had shown the least idle 
curiosity, not to say meddlesomeness, they 
would have had their ears soundly boxed by 
thrifty housewives, I am sure. Mannie watched 
them as they made their way to the higher land 
above their town. 

“I believe they are going to build up a 
town all of their own,” he said to himself, “or, 
perhaps, it is to be an addition to our town.” 
He liked to think of it that way, and felt very 
proud of himself and his family as he thought 
of this great addition to their village. “Why,” 
he thought, “if this keeps up, Penguin Town 
will soon be a city and we can put in electric 
lights, water works, and street cars.” 




62 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 



“Who are all those new folks?” he asked 
Father Penguin that evening. 

“They are the Adelie Penguin tribe,” said 
his father. “They are very good folks, but 
they always come late to their summer homes 
so they get the worst place to nest. However, 
they are very proper people, and we never ob¬ 
ject to their going through town to get rocks 
for building. 

* * * 

“There’s three red stones on the wall near¬ 
est the ocean, three red ones and one white one 
on the side nearest the hill there are three white 







ARRIVAL OF THE ADELIE PENGUINS 


63 


stones and one red one. I mustn’t forget that.” 
Mannie turned and counted them again to 
make sure. These stones were in the wall of his 
own home. He was going out for a ramble. 
His father and mother had both gone out to fish 
in the sea. They had told him to remember 
about the stones, for if he didn’t he would 
never be able to find his way home. It was 
much easier to find his home than to find his 
parents, for they were dressed so very much 
like all the other folks of the village that occa¬ 
sionally there was a great squabble over whose 
children certain youngsters were anyway. 

He counted the stones once more, then 
went waddling away toward the upper edge of 
the village. He had taken little trips about his 
own part of the town, but to-day he felt sure 
he was going to make a visit to the south addi¬ 
tion which the Adelie Penguin folks were 
building. 

On and on he waddled, looking this way 
and that, and enjoying the splendid sunshine 





.‘.'vW-: ; - J." x,‘:V> 


. 






_ 


64 




























































ARRIVAL OF THE ADELIE PENGUINS 


65 


until he came to the outer edge of his own vil¬ 
lage, and at last, right into the Adelie Addition. 
He found the people busy at work building 
their homes. It was a long journey down to 
the beach, and they were all tired and fussed 
up as each come panting back bearing a stone 
in his beak. 

“Lot’s of work, isn’t it?’’ said Mannie to 
a broadfaced, chubby little fellow, who grinned 
at him good-naturedly. 

“The work is fine,” said the stranger, “but 
the stealing’s mean. To-day I have carried 
six stones and all I have left is the one I brought 
just now. Oh, well,” he sighed, “I’ll just do 
as the rest do.” 

“What’s that?” asked Mannie. 

“Watch and see.” 

Mannie did watch. The stranger stood 
up straight in his home and seemed to be fast 
asleep with his nose under his right arm. But 
his eyes were not covered up. Very soon his 
sharp-eyed neighbor rose and went toddling 




66 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


down the hill. Then this wise fellow opened 
his eyes and began taking stones from his 
neighbor’s wall and adding them to his. 

“There,” he said after a time. “I think 
that makes my home complete.” 

“Did he take your stones?” asked Mannie. 

“Somebody did and I had to get them 
back,” grinned the other. “You see,” he said, 
“Our people have the habit of stealing stones to 
build their houses with, and if you didn’t steal 
at all you’d never have a house. I don’t like it. 
I hope some time our people will grow to re¬ 
spect the rights of one another just at the 
humans do.” 

Mannie went down the hill to his own vil¬ 
lage where he searched out the house with the 
three red stones and one white one next to the 
sea, and three white ones and one red one on 
the upper side. He found his mother and 
father there, with a good supper all spread. 

“Father,” he said that night, “these Adelie 
folks are right stupid. They keep stealing one 




ARRIVAL OF THE ADELIE PENGUINS 


67 


another’s rocks which they build houses with. 
Don’t you think that is very unkind and 
stupid?” 

His father only smiled wisely and said 
nothing. His mother said some time this fool¬ 
ish habit will change and told Mannie to have 
another fish biscuit. 









THE POLICEWOMAN 



’H, hah!” exclaimed Old 
Tramp Stormy Petrel, rub¬ 
bing his hands together, and 
nearly losing his balance as 
he lowered himself to the 
ground. “Just as I hoped it 
would be. Here, down by the river are half the 
young people of the village with no old folks 
to stop a fellow who wants to talk to them.” 

He had just reached the ground by this 
time, and in a very few moments he walked up 
to the group of Penguin boys and made his 
very best bow. 

“How do you do?” he said smiling. 
“You’re a fine lot of young gentlemen.” The 
boys all blushed and twisted their hands awk¬ 
wardly behind their backs, but said nothing. 

“My name’s Petrel, Stormy Petrel,” said 
the old tramp, sitting down on a large rock 


68 



THE POLICEWOMAN 


69 


and crossed his feet. “I don’t suppose any 
of you know me. I know all your folks very 
well. I was over here a month ago. Had a 
fine time, too, I must say. Very clever folks, 
your people are.” Stormy spread his wings and 
tried to look his very best, but the boys still 
twisted their hands behind their backs and said 
nothing. 

“This is a fine day,” said Stormy, “the 
river’s fine, why don’t you take a swim?” 

“Our bathing-suits are not finished yet,” 
ventured Mannie Penguin, having lost his em¬ 
barrassment. “Mother says they won’t be done 
for three weeks.” 

“Well, now I call that too bad!” said 
Stormy, seeming to feel sorry for the boys, but 
in truth, feeling more sorry for himself, for if 
the fact were known, he had come back to Pen¬ 
guin Village to get a boy for a traveling com¬ 
panion, and it did not please him a bit to find 
that none of them had their bathing-suits 
finished. 




70 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 



“Our Bathing Suits Are Not Finished Yet,” Said Mannie 


Stormy shifted uneasily about on his seat. 
He saw he was in a bad business. Any tramp 
is in bad business when he is hunting up a boy 
to travel with him, and he knows it. Stormy 
knew it, too, and was nervous. “But I may as 
well make a good impression on them now,” 
he thought to himself, “then, when they get 
their bathing-suits it won’t be the least trouble 
in the world to get one of them to go right 
away.” At that he cast a dreamy spell over his 
visage and began; 








THE POLICEWOMAN 


71 


“The truth is, boys, I’m what’s known as a 
globe trotter.” He paused to allow the words 
to make an impression. It was evident that his 
listeners did not understand. “Well, you see,” 
he continued, “it’s like this, I travel all over the 
world. Doesn’t that sound interesting?” 
Didn’t you ever get to wondering what was just 
beyond the clouds you see all red at sunset? It 
is very strange! Well now, I’ve been there. 
And a great many other places I’ve been, too. 
When you look over at the red, red sun when it 
rises up out of the sea in the morning, don’t 
you ever wonder what is beyond the sunrise, 
and what it is? Well, I’ve been there. I’ve 
been almost everywhere. It’s great to travel, to 
go here, there, and everywhere over the earth!” 
The Penguin boys were listening now with all 
attention. What one of them had not looked 
away at the golden sunset or at the red sun¬ 
rise, and thought of the lands beyond it all? 

“And besides all that I’m an adventurer,” 
said Stormy. “I’ve done all sorts of daring 




72 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


things. I’ve robbed robbers in their dens. I’ve 
robbed Old Ivory Gull, the pirate, of his 
ill-gotten booty. Why!” he exclaimed, to further 
win his hearers, “There’s no one I’d be afraid 
of.” 

“Look out, mister!” cried one of the boys, 
“Here comes the police woman.” 

“Police woman!” cried Stormy, in a fright. 
“Where?” Then he suddenly thought of the 
great speech he had just been making to the 
boys, and sat down again to appear not afraid. 

Now, truly enough, a police woman was 
coming. The Penguin people are ever watch¬ 
ful of their children. Though most of them 
had gone fishing, they had left their children in 
the care of two police women. It was one of 
these who was coming just now. And a very 
strong person she looked to be, too. She was 
dressed in light yellow bloomers with a bright 
golden collar, a grayish-blue cape and a black 
hood. She came marching along with as much 
dignity as the Emperor himself. 




THE POLICEWOMAN 


73 


Poor Stormy! He was very small indeed, 
beside her, and his conscience did not add one 
bit to his courage, for as we can see, he real¬ 
ized that he was in a very bad business. But 
he put on his best face and waited for the police 
woman to come up. 

She looked him over from his head to where 
his toes were. Honest, you’d have been sorry 
for Stormy if he hadn’t just been up to such bad 
tricks, the way she looked at him. 

“What you doing here?” she demanded, 
moving very close to him. 

“I will explain,” said Stormy, twisting 
uncomfortably, “you see, I’m quite a traveler, 
and—” 

“I wouldn’t doubt it. You look as if you 
were,” said the watch woman wisely. “And I 
suppose you’d like to get some of these boys to 
travel with you?” 

That was such a good guess that Stormy 
had not a word to say. 




74 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 



“Now!” She Exlcaimed, Giving His Ear a Sound Box 


The police woman went up to him and 
took him by the collar. She set him on his 
feet with a jerk and marched him over two 
hills before she let him go. 

“Now!” she exclaimed, giving his ear a 
sound box, “You get out and don’t you come 
back.” And we may be sure that Stormy was 
glad enough to go. 

It would have been better for Mannie Pen¬ 
guin if Stormy had obeyed her orders and 
stayed away, but he didn’t. 

















THE POLICEWOMAN 


75 


That night, in his own home, Mannie was 
thinking of the strange tales of this wanderer. 
“How fine it would be to go way out beyond 
the sunset and way over beyond the sunrise,” he 
thought to himself. He sat there, and thought 
and thought and thought till his mother told 
him to go wash his feet and be off to bed. 



Sheath Bill 




SHEATHBILL, THE ROBBER 



HE morning after Old 
Tramp Stormy Petrel had 
told the Penguin boys about 
his wonderful travels, Man- 
nie Penguin stole out of bed 
very early and went out to 
watch the sun come up over the hills. His 
father and mother were out for their morning 
swim, so no one missed him. What a glorious 
morning it was! The mosses all sparkling with 
the morning mist, the white hill peaks just turn¬ 
ing to red fire brands under the red glow of the 
morning sun, and the sun himself just coming 
over the hill, a great jolly giant! 

“He said he’d been way over beyond where 
the sun rose,” said Mannie to himself. “That 
must be grand!” He stood for a moment and 
thought. 

“I think I’ll just go to the top of that hill 


76 



SHEATHBILL THE ROBBER 


77 


over there,” he said. “Perhaps I can see how 
far it is beyond the sun, and by and by, when I 
am bigger, I’ll go right over there all the way.” 

He straightened up and marched along 
very dignified in his first trip away from the vil¬ 
lage. This went very well half way up the hill, 
but when he came to a place where the side of 
the hill seemed to cave in, and he was obliged 
to go down hill to get higher up, he tumbled 
awkwardly on his stomach and went toboggan¬ 
ing down to the bottom if the hollow. Then 
up he rose again and waddled on his way. 

“It didn’t seem such a long way just to the 
top of that hill,” he mumbled as he trudged 
along. “I believe I am growing hungry al¬ 
ready.” But he was a persistent little fellow, and 
went trudging on till he came to another place 
to slide down, then down he went only to find a 
third place to climb. Whew! how tired his feet 
were by the time he reached the top of this hill! 
But when he came to the very crest he was no 
more able to see over the top than he had been 




78_THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 



What a Glorious Morning It Was 


before. Right before him towered a great wall 
straight up and down. So steep it was that he 
could neither climb up it, nor if he were able to 
do this would he have dared to toboggan down 
it. What was still worse, the red giant face of the 
sun had disappeared altogether, and the wind 
whistled round the rock dismally. 

“How cold it is up here,” Mannie shivered. 

But not to be beaten even at this, he started 
going along the edge of the cliff. “Surely 









SHEATHBILL THE ROBBER 


79 


there’s a door through somewhere,” he said to 
himself, “or Stormy Petrel could never have 
gone round behind the wall to the place beyond 
the sun.” So he plodded on and on, his feet 
growing more tired and getting hungrier at 
every stride. But, at last he came to a door 
right into the rock. But it had such a high 
door-sill that Mannie could not climb over it, 
try as he might. Three times he tried it, and 
at last slipped and slid a long way down the 
hill. But he was plucky and climbed all the 
way back again. 

“There’s a little ridge over there,” he said, 
“I believe I can see over the door-sill and can 
tell what is beyond if I climb up there.” Up 
he climbed, and then turned to look. He 
nearly fell over backward for fright at what he 
saw! But he steadied himself and looked 
again, and by this time he was so surprised that 
he could not have moved from the spot. 

The door led into a broad hallway. It 
was a very wide door, and you could see about 




80 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


all there was in the hall. It was the home of 
old robber Sheathbill! There was the bed he 
slept on, and there were his two white eggs. 
But the bad thing about his house was his bed. 
It was all made of the bones and skulls of little 
Penguin folks! He had discovered a real rob¬ 
ber’s den, and here he was just a little fellow 
and all alone! What should he do? 

It was evident that he was not going to see 
the land beyond the sun this morning, even if 
it was only from the distant top of a hill. He 
had just come to this conclusion and was about 
to climb down from the little ridge and make 
for home as fast as his feet would carry him, 
when all at once he felt a cold shiver run down 
his back. A hoarse voice came over the next 
ridge. What an angry voice it was! He looked 
and there, looking at him with a wicked grin 
was the robber himself, not twenty feet away! 

Mannie didn’t want to seem a bit scared, 
so he turned and walked down the hill with 
all the dignity he could command. But it 




SHEATHBILL THE ROBBER 


81 


wasn’t much dignity after all, for his hands 
were shaking and his knees were trembling 
and he could feel the robber’s eyes staring right 
down the middle of his back. 

The old robber must have known this for 
in just a moment he charged right at Mannie, 
and if Mannie had not made a misstep and be¬ 
gun to slide, I am afraid the story would have 
ended right here, and the old robber would 
have had more bones to add to his nest. But 
Mannie began to slide, he tried to hold him¬ 
self but he couldn’t, so down, down he went, 
sometimes head over heels, and sometimes back 
side first, and sometimes on his nose, but always 
tumbling and sliding, ziz, ziz, ziz—how he did 
go! The old robber followed him for a dis¬ 
tance, but it wasn’t a bit of use. Mannie was 
traveling far too fast for him! He wasn’t able 
to catch Mannie at all. So he turned back hop¬ 
ing to catch Mannie another time. 

“Ug! Gup!” All of a sudden Mannie 
tumbled right into something. That something 










82 






















SHEATHBILL THE ROBBER 


83 


happened to be the stomach of an Emperor 
Penguin. I forgot to tell you that not only 
Mannie’s father was called Emperor, but all of 
Mannie’s folks, both men and women. 

“Excuse me,” said Mannie. But the Em¬ 
peror was far too much out of wind to say any¬ 
thing, so Mannie hurried to join a group of 
boys and lost himself from the Emperor’s sight. 
“He might be a bit angry when he get’s his 
breath,” he thought to himself. “But I wonder 
how I got to our village by sliding straight 
down the hill? When I climbed up the hill 
I went over two ridges to reach the top.” 

But he was too hungry to bother his head 
about that very long. His breakfast must be 
cold by this time. He would hurry right over 
to that house with three red stones on one side, 
and three white stones and a red on the other. 
But where was it, which way should he go? 
He decided to go right through the town and 
look both ways. This did no good. “I’ll just 




84 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


have to go up one street and down another till 
I come to it,” he said to himself. This would 
take a long time, but there was nothing else for 
it. He was sorry he had ever ventured forth to 
find the land beyond the sun. But up this street 
and down that one he tramped, thinking every 
moment he would come to his own home. Up 
and down, up and down, till his feet hurt more 
than ever, but at last he came out at the other 
edge of the town and never a look at his own 
home had he had. 

“What am I to do?” he asked himself, “I’m 
very hungry and,—” Just then he caught sight 
of a Mrs. Penguin coming from fishing, with 
a splendid fish in her basket. “I believe that 
is my own mother!” he exclaimed, and went 
toddling after her asking for his breakfast. 
But was it his mother? It is very easy to think 
most any good woman is your mother in Pen¬ 
guin Land when you are very hungry. 





TO CATCH SHEATHBILL 



OTHER, mother, I’m hun¬ 
gry. Give me my breakfast,” 
cried Mannie Penguin, as he 
ran after the large Mrs. Pen¬ 
guin with the fish in her 
basket. 


“You run away, little fellow, I’m not your 
mother,” smiled the large Mrs. Penguin. 

But Mannie did not run away; he followed 
right on her heels and kept crying, “Give me 
my breakfast. I am your child. I am Mannie 
Penguin. Give me my breakfast.” 

But the lady only laughed loud and long, 
and called back at him, “Go hunt your own 
mother. I am not your mother.” 

But Mannie was too hungry to go hunting 
anyone else. Was not here a fine mother with 
a large fish? And did she not look like the 


85 


86 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 



Was Not Here a Fine Mother With a Large Fish? 


mother who had always fed him? Why, then, 
should he run away to hunt some mother who, 
perhaps, had no fish after all? So on and on 
he ran, chasing the lady with the basket faster 
and faster until she began to puff and puff, and 
was soon quite out of wind. 

“Give me my breakfast,” said Mannie, 
coming up very close. 

Now it is true that all Penguin people 
are very near-sighted, and when Mrs. Pen¬ 
guin sat down to rest she took a better look 
at Mannie. “Why!” she exclaimed, “if you 
don’t look for all the world like my little son. 







THE CATCH SHEATHBILL 


87 


I am so near-sighted that I really can’t tell! So 
here is the fish even though you are not my 
son!” 

Mannie ate the fish with great relish. But 
when this particluar Mrs. Penguin returned to 
her home she found a hungry child waiting for 
her, and knew she had fed someone else’s boy. 

But when Mannie had eaten his breakfast 
and wandered back to the village to continue 
his search for the house with three red stones 
on one side and three white stones on the other, 
he at last sat down by the side of the street and 
began thinking of his adventure of the morn¬ 
ing, of his narrow escape from old robber 
Sheathbill. It all seemed so real to him now that 
he began to bug his eyes out in fright at the 
thought of so narrow an escape. 

“Hello, and what are you bugging your 
eyes out so about?” asked a policeman who 
came along just then. 

Mannie was startled at the policeman’s 
question, but decided to tell the truth. 

“Why,” he said, wiggling his arms and 




88 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


feeling very nervous, “I was just thinking of 
something I saw up on the hill this morning.” 

“And what was that?” asked the police¬ 
man resting his club on his knee. 

“It wasn’t much of anything,” said Mannie 
modestly, “ I just saw a robber’s den with some 
bones of little Penguin folks in it, and a great 
many eggshells, and by and by the robber, old 
Sheathbill came along and chased me. I 
slipped and came sliding down here, that’s all.” 

“What’s that?” asked the policeman’s son, 
who was standing near him. “What’s that, you 
saw a robber’s den and the robber chased you?” 

“What’s that?” demanded a short chubby 
little Adelie Penguin before Mannie had had 
time to reply. “You saw a robber’s den and 
the robber, old Sheathbill, chased you?” 

“What’s that?” called a short boy, in knee 
pants, the Adelie Penguin’s son, “you saw a 
robber and he chased you?” 

So many of them asking him questions all 
at once confused Mannie so very much that he 




THE CATCH SHEATHBILL 


89 


could not answer any of them. And all the 
time, more and more people were gathering 
around him and all talking at once. They 
asked questions of one another and of him, and 
made such a hub-bub that in just a few 
moments the whole town was talking about it. 
Grown people and children were calling at 
the top of their voices. He could hardly have 
created a greater excitement if he had an¬ 
nounced that the whole town was to be attacked 
by a great band of robbers at the very next 
moment. 

But it was not much to be wondered about 
that his discovery had created such a com¬ 
motion, for this very robber had done great 
damage to this very village. Many a Penguin 
mother was childless because her egg had been 
stolen by this bold fellow, and those bones in 
his nest were the bones of children stolen from 
this very village. 

Mannie was led away by the Policeman to 
the Emperor, and in just an hour the whole 




90 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


village was preparing to go to the top of the hill 
and destroy this bold robber and his home. 

A very bold and imposing company they 
made, too, as they marched along all in good 
order. First, there were the Policemen, and 
then the Emperors, then the wives of police¬ 
men and emperors, then all the children of this 
part of the village. After these came the hun¬ 
dreds and hundreds of dutchy little Adelie Pen¬ 
guins, followed by their wives and children. 
Of course, it was not expected that these little 
people would do much fighting, but they would 
come in handy if it was necessary to lay siege 
to the place, for they could dig trenches and 
build stone walls. 

“We’ll catch him!” shouted the Policemen. 
“We’ll catch him!” answered the emperors. 
“We’ll catch him!” echoed the chubby little 
Adelie Penguins. “We will, we will!” shouted 
all the women and children in a chorus, and so 
they marched along with Mannie in the front 
row showing them the way. 




INTO THE ROBBER’S DEN 



OU couldn’t keep an army of 
Penguins quiet if they were 
stealing upon a fortress in 
the dead of the night. Up 
the hill they marched sing¬ 
ing, shouting and singing 
again, making enough noise 
to frighten a lot of robbers. And always march¬ 
ing along in front, making as much noise as the 
rest, was Mannie, feeling very keenly his im¬ 
portance as guide to the whole party. 

At last they reached the top of the hill, 
and Mannie pointed out to them the hole in 
the wall and the high doorstep in front. 

“Now,” said the policeman very bravely, 
“we will all march up close to the door. Then 
I will go up and knock. If he answers, I will 
call upon him to come out and fight. If he 
does not answer, I’ll climb over his high door- 


91 




92 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


sill and go right in. But you must be all ready 
to follow me and back me up. There might 
be a whole band of robbers in the cave.” 

“We’ll follow you,” shouted the other 
policemen. “We’ll come right after you,” 
shouted the short dutchy Adelie Penguins; 
“We’ll be right there,” shouted all the women 
and children in a chorus, as they moved close 
up to the doorstep in solid ranks. 

Rap, rap, rap! went the policeman’s club 
on the door-sill, but there came no answer. 
Rap, rap, rap! it went louder than before, but 
still no answer. RAP, RAP, RAP! louder 
than ever, but still no answer. 

“I’ll have to go in and bring him out,” 
whispered back the policeman. “Be ready!” 

“All right. All right,” whispered the 
others in one breath. 

The policeman made a sudden rush and 
started over the sill. Just when he was about to 
tumble over inside his foot slipped and back 
he came tumbling head over heels, and right 




INTO THE ROBBER’S DEN 


93 


into the crowd he rolled knocking them down 
like so many ten-pins. In a moment all was 
confusion and the Penguin army was toboggan¬ 
ing head over heels to the bottom. 

“Halt! Halt!” shouted the policeman, who 
had gotten on his feet at last. You’re a foolish 
army I must say!” he exclaimed, as they turned 
about and clambered back upon their feet as 
best they could. 

“Did you see him?” exclaimed the other 
policemen. “Did he attack you?” asked the 
chubby Adelie Penguin. “How did he look? 
How did he look?” called all the women and 
children in a chorus. 

But the policeman was too much annoyed 
to answer any of their questions. He just or¬ 
dered them all back up the hill again. And 
soon he was ready to try climbing over the 
door-sill once more. But again he slipped, and 
again sent Penguins spinning in every direction. 
But this time they were much braver and held 





In a Moment All Was Confusion 


94 















































INTO THE ROBBER’S DEN 


95 


their ground. A third time he attempted it 
and again went rolling. 

“Foolish!” exclaimed a chubby little Ad- 
elie Penguin. “Where did you see the den?” 
He turned to Mannie. Now! it is true that 
though the Adelie Penguins are very short 
and much smaller than the Emperor, yet there 
are no braver little people in the world, and 
none so impatient of delay. 

“Right over there on that ridge,” Mannie 
shivered a bit at the thought of his experience. 
“You can see right into the den from there.” 

He had hardly finished speaking when the 
chubby fellow was stomping stolidly up the 
ridge and that without orders from the big 
policeman. 

“Here! Come back there!” shouted the 
policeman. But the little fellow never stopped; 
right up the ridge he went, and if he had been 
charging right into the cannon’s mouth I doubt 
if he would have hesitated a moment. 

Right to the top of the ridge he marched. 




96 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


Then up on his feet he stood, and in a moment 
began to wave his arms and speak. But no one 
understood what he said, for he had hardly 
opened his mouth when up flew his feet and 
down he went ker-flop, and like an arrow he 
shot right down the ridge. But he didn’t go the 
way Mannie went. He shot right down toward 
the robber’s den! He struck the door-sill with 
a flop and a bounce! Right over into the den 
he tumbled! 

Then what a shouting and screaming there 
was! “The robber will hurt him!” shouted all 
the Penguins. But ten other Adelie Penguins, 
in spite of the danger, began stolidly climbing 
the ridge. And in just a moment, bravely, 
without a tremble, they threw their feet in the 
air, and went tumbling all ten right into the 
robber’s den just as their companion had done. 
How the other Adelie Penguins cheered. But, 
the Emperor policemen, not to be outdone, 
marched up the hill and took the slide too. 
And in just a few moments there were so many 




INTO THE ROBBER’S DEN 


97 


people in the robber’s den that they could 
hardly turn about. 

And what do you suppose they found? 
Nobody home! Nobody home at all for the 
old robber had heard them coming up the hill 
and had made his safe escape. But there was 
his bad bed made of little Penguin bones and 
egg-shells. They took his bed and his own 
eggs as well, and they buried the bones of the 
little Penguins, then they marched in triumph 
down the hill. 

It had been a great day in Penguin Land, 
even though they had not captured old robber 
Sheathbill, their ancient enemy. Let us hope 
that they may be more successful in the future, 
for he is really a very bold, bad fellow. 




THE STRANGE MOTHERS 


H my! I want my mother, I do!” called 



KJ Mannie Penguin, standing first on one 
foot and then on the other, and at last toppling 
over in a heap on the ice. 

It’s all right for little folks to be wandering 
about all by themselves when the sun is shining 
brightly. They feel safe enough then and quite 
happy, but when the long shadows begin to 
stretch and stretch and stretch across the ice, and 
it’s getting dark, dark, dark, then they begin to 
think of their mothers, if they have any, and 
Mannie had one. He knew he did. If he only 
could find her. 

“Here, I’ll be your mother,” whispered a 
big motherly Penguin. Mannie looked at her 
and didn’t say anything. He didn’t really 
know whether she was his mother. He only 
knew that her house did not have three red 
stones on the lower side, and three white ones 


98 


THE STRANGE MOTHERS 99 



‘There, I’ll Be Your Mother/’ Whispered a Big Motherly Penguin 


on the upper side. He was very much be¬ 
wildered, and so unhappy! Where could that 
house be anyway? He had hunted all morn¬ 
ing for it when the sun was shining brightly. 
What could be the use of looking for it now? 

He didn’t have long to think of it, for the 
motherly Penguin seized him and dragged him 
up under her warm gown with his feet on top 
of her broad feet. It did feel good to be off 
from the cold, cold ice, and he was half in mind 














100 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


to sit right still and go to sleep, just as he always 
had done with his really-truly mother. 

But he was not allowed to do that, for 
the moment the other childless Penguins saw 
what had happened there was an uproar. We 
know that the old robber had stolen many 
eggs from this Penguin town, and had caught 
some of the little folks that lived there, so that 
there were very many childless mothers. And 
there are no more motherly people in the world 
than these very Penguin women. If they have 
no child of their own they are altogether too 
willing to take some other person’s child to 
nurse. That was just where the trouble arose 
and things indeed went very bad for Mannie. 

“You can’t have him, you give him to me,” 
said one motherly old dame. 

“I won’t, he’s mine,” said the one which 
was holding him, poking her nose at the other. 
That was a sign for battle, and in a moment 
Mannie found himself tumbled out on the ice. 




THE STRANGE MOTHERS 


101 


while the two dames went at one another flipper 
and beak in a very savage fashion. 

“Come here, I’ll take care of you,” whis¬ 
pered a third dame, pushing Mannie before her 
out of the fray. Mannie did not know that 
this arrangement would only get him into 
further trouble, as he was very young and 
could not be expected to reason that out. 

When the other Mother Penguins saw this 
they were upon the third dame in a trice. And 
so it went on until there were no less than 
fifteen trying to win the care of Mannie. A 
dame would stand up straight and swing her 
arm for a blow, when someone behind her 
would strike her over the head, and down she 
would tumble. It was indeed one of the 
strangest thing that ever happened in a peace¬ 
ful Penguin village. Mannie, as soon as he 
could, ran away from all those fighting birds 
to escape being torn almost to pieces by their 
loving embraces. 

“Where am I, and where shall I go?” cried 




\02 THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 



And in a Moment Mannie Found Himself Tumbled on the Ice 


the poor little fellow, as he came out into the 
dark. “I want my mother, I do!” 

Well, it was very cold so he had to keep 
moving to keep himself warm. He went away 
and away from the village, over one little hill 
and another little hill, and good enough! He 
came to another Penguin town. And as he 
looked closely, it seemed to him that it looked 
very much more like the town in which he was 
born than the one he had just left. He began 
wandering up the streets in the moonlight, and 
joy of joys! He came right to the house where 

























THE STRANGE MOTHERS 


103 



there were three little red stones on the lower 
side and three little white ones on the upper side, 
and there sleeping all alone was someone whom 
he knew was his very own mother! He just 
crept right into bed without waking her up and 
was fast asleep in a jiffy. 

Next morning he had many strange things 
to tell the people of his own town; the find¬ 
ing of the robber’s den, and the strange Pen¬ 
guin town, and all about the finding on the 
robber’s den, and all about how he had been 
treated by the mother Penguins in that strange 


town. 

















































































104 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


The mothers of his own village were very 
indignant to think that any child should be 
treated as he had been by the dames of that 
other town, and were for going right over and 
punishing them good. But when they went 
to the Emperor to see what he thought about 
it, he said; 

“They did just what you would have done 
in the same circumstances! They acted just as 
Penguin women always do! You’d better all 
run home and forget about it!” 

They didn’t thank him for this advice, but 
after all, they saw the wisdom of it, so they 
went waddling off each one to her own home, 
leaving Mannie to get over his hurts as best 
he might, and his mother to mend his clothes. 
But you may be sure it was some time before 
Mannie went over the hills again to see what 
the land was like beyond the sun. 




THE SEA LEOPARD 



LL the bright, golden snow¬ 
flakes which flew to the sky 
and stayed twinkling there 
all night had faded away, and 
it was morning again. 


“A very bright morning, 


very bright indeed!” said Mannie Penguin, 
tightening the string to his bathing suit. Man¬ 
nie was very happy, and well he might be, for at 
last his bathing suit was finished, and his mother 
had said he might try it out that very day, so he 
gave a hop and a skip and turned a back somer¬ 
sault, as he tobogganed down a slippery hill. 

But Mannie wasn’t quite as happy as he 
would have been if he had not tried going away 
from home all by himself before. He didn’t 
feel quite certain about things, but when he 
caught sight of the water, all blue and white 


105 



106 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


in the morning light, and touched with gold here 
and there, he could not resist running right to it, 
and plunging in without one care. Then 
away he went diving, dipping, swimming to 
his heart’s content. There’s nothing the Pen¬ 
guin folks like better than swimming. They 
cannot fly, so they can go faster through the 
water than any other way. Mannie did not have 
to learn. He just knew how, that was all, and I 
am quite sure he never stopped one second to 
question how he came by all this good fortune. 
For I am sure we could not help counting it a 
very good fortune, after all the times we have 
gotten water into our eyes and ears and noses 
trying to learn. 

Here and there Mannie came upon other 
young Penguin people swimming about in the 
water. They were all young folks like Mannie. 
The older folks were having new bathing suits 
made. Their old ones were old and ragged, so 
there was nothing for them to do but mope 
about home until the new ones were finished. 




THE SEA LEOPARD 


107 


Mannie felt sorry for them when he thought 
about it, but he was mostly too much taken up 
with his own joy at being able to swim to think 
much about it. Anyway, he paddled away and 
away, and very soon he found himself quite far 
from anyone, over among some great icebergs 
which floated about in the water, a great many 
more of them being under the water than on 
top. Mannie liked them, they seemed so huge 
and good-natured, and so silent. The sun 
shone on their sides, and painted one side pale 
yellow, while the other side was left deep 
purple shadows where there might be almost 
anything hidden, but where there was probably 
just nothing at all. 

Mannie was fancying all sorts of things 
about these great bergs, when all of a sudden he 
heard a swish, swish in the water. He looked 
about quickly, and something told him that 
the person he saw was a very dangerous fellow. 
That something was an instinct, I think, for 
hundreds of years the Penguin folks have been 




108 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


afraid of Mr. Sea Leopard. He has been one 
of their worst enemies. And just now he was 
coming right at Mannie, his rows and rows of 
sharp teeth gleaming wickedly in the sun. 

“Save me! Save me!” called Mannie to the 
great icebergs. 

But the icebergs were as silent as ever and 
seemed to offer no assistance at all. They 
seemed farther away, too, and Mannie felt he 
could never reach one before the monster 
would swallow him up. He must try though, 
so bravely he struck out. 

Swish, swish went old Sea Leopard’s 
paddles in the water. Never was there a land 
leopard in the world more dangerous than he. 
Never did little young Penguin swim more 
bravely than Mannie. But he could see that it 
was not going to be a bit of use to try to reach 
the friendly old bergs for, swim as he might, 
they semed to go back farther and farther in 
the distance. Closer and closer came the leop¬ 
ard. Now Mannie could hear his hoarse gurgle 




THE SEA LEOPARD 


109 


as he swam. But suddenly a little cake of ice 
appeared in the water. It wasn’t more than 
ten feet square and not thick above the water 
at all. 

“If I can only reach that!” panted Mannie, 
as he put forth all his effort. And just before 
the leopard reached him he climbed panting 
onto the ice and was safe. 

“Why, hello!” said a voice right beside 
him. He nearly fell into the sea again. 

“Why, why,” he stammered, “it’s Stormy 
Petrel.” 

“Yes, that’s who it is,” said the other, mov¬ 
ing along on the cake of ice. “That was a 
narrow escape. Why didn’t you fly?” 

“Our folks don’t fly,” said Mannie sorrow¬ 
fully, at the same time wondering how he was 
going to get back to land and to his home. 

“Well, now, I call that too bad,” said 
Stormy, sympathetically. He spoke twice for 
himself and once for Mannie, for he had hoped 
very much that here at last was the very boy 






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And Just Before the Leopard Reached Him He Climbed Panting Onto the Ice 


110 





















































































































































































THE SEA LEOPARD m 

he wanted for a traveling companion. But if 
he couldn’t fly, why what use could he be to 
him? So Stormy stood on one foot dejectedly, 
and leaned against a little pile of ice, looking 
for all the world as if he had lost his last friend, 
while Manny thought and thought how he was 
ever going to get back to land and away from 
this terrible water which had seemed so grand 
to him but an hour before. 






OLD GIANT WHALE 



’HE little cake of ice rocked 
slowly up and down with the 
wash of little waves. Up and 
down it rocked, up and 
down, and Mannie had al¬ 
most been rocked to sleep 
when Stormy Petrel moved over close to him. 

“I wish,” said Stormy, “that you could only 
fly so that I could show you a gay time.” With 
that he nudged Mannie in the ribs and grinned 
gleefully, as any care-free tramp might. 

Mannie didn’t like being nudged. He 
wasn’t used to it. When Stormy said something 
else and nudged him again, he felt himself 
growing a bit angry. 

“I don’t like being nudged!” exclaimed 
Mannie, as he nudged Stormy in return so 
violently that Stormy quite lost his balance 
and went sprawling on the ice, for it is told 


112 


THE SEA LEOPARD 


113 



that there is no one in the world who is 
quite so good at that game of nudging as the 
Penguin people. Even Husky, the malamute 
dog, and the Geography man knew this to their 
sorrow. 

“Beg your pardon, I didn’t mean,—” Man- 
nie began. 

“You did it on purpose,” growled Stormy, 
getting on his feet as best he could. But he 
had hardly managed this before he and Mannie 
both went sprawling. You might have thought 
there had been an earthquake if it had been 
on land. Such a shaking up as they received! 








114 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


You might have guessed it was a giant wave 
that did it, if there had been a cloud in the sky 
but there was not. 

“What did that?” Mannie asked, rubbing 
his knees and struggling to rise. But he was 
no more than half way on his feet than there 
came another shock and he almost tumbled 
into the sea. 

“Be careful!” screamed Stormy. “That’s 
Old Giant Killer Whale. He’s trying to shake 
us off this cake of ice, and if he does he’ll eat 
us in a second’s time!” 

“Old Giant Killer Whale!” Had not 
Mannie heard of this great monster? Hadn’t 
stories of his cruelty been often told in Penguin 
Town? Where was there anyone more to be 
feared? Would any danger on land drive one 
of his family to sea when they thought Killer 
Whale was about? And yet, here he was on a 
small cake of ice far, far from land and Killer 
Whale was coming up beneath the cake and 
trying to tumble him into the sea. 




OLD GIANT WHALE 


115 


He didn’t have long to think about it, for 
in just a second there came another shock, and 
down he went. Stormy had managed to get on 
his feet and spread his wings. Away he sailed 
high in the air, from which safe distance he 
shouted encouragement to his young compan¬ 
ion. What a terrible experience it was! Now 
Mannie was on his feet and gaining in the 
hope that the monster was gone, but just then 
down he would go. Now he was standing on 
his head with the cake of ice standing on its 
edge in the water. Now he was on his back 
looking up into the blue sky where Stormy 
soars aloft. Now he was rolling over and over, 
and frantically waving his feet to get some hold 
on the slippery ice surface. It surely looked 
as if Mannie Penguin would be among the 
missing children of his little village, and that 
his family and friends would go back to their 
winter home mourning this happy little mem¬ 
ber of their family. 




116 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


But suddenly, as he scrambled to his feet, 
Mannie discovered that one of the great friendly 
icebergs which had seemed so far away, now was 
quite close, very close indeed! The little waves 
had pushed his cake of ice closer and closer until 
it was hardly any distance at all. If he only could 
stay on the cake of ice a little longer, he might 
make a bold dash and be safe! So with good 
courage, he took the next tumble and held him¬ 
self as near the center of the cake as possible. 
Now, in just a few moments he would come 
bumping against the iceberg and he would 
be safe. Now he could hear the wash of the 
waves against the berg. And now it seemed 
that he could almost touch it. But suddenly, 
as if realizing that he was about to lose his 
dinner, the great whale gave a terrible bump, 
and the little cake of ice split in two. Over 
tumbled Mannie into the dark waters almost 
within grasp of the cruel monster. 

“Look out!” shouted Stormy, hovering 


near. 




OLD GIANT WHALE 


117 


Mannie did act quickly. He gave three 
masterly strokes, and in just a second he was 
scrambling up the side of the iceberg, just as 
Killer Whale went ker-whack against it. Let 
us hope he hurt his nose and broke out half 
his cruel teeth. Anyway, Mannie was safe 
for the time, and he stopped to catch his breath 
and to look at the beautiful blue of the iceberg. 
No, it didn’t make much difference to him 
whether this temporary home was all ice or 
not, for he had a warm bathing-suit and he was 
very chubby and fat, so he could stand the 
cold. And there never was a Killer Whale 
in the world who could even make this splendid 
berg so much as tremble. Yes, Mannie was 
safe for now, but there was no food to eat, and 
it was a long dangerous way home over the 
sea. Perhaps, too, the berg was drifting out 
to sea. What, after all, was to become of our 
young friend who was on his second adventure 
in the great wide world? 




SAFE AT HOME 


1\ j\ ANNIE PENGUIN did not know when 
he would get back to land from that 
iceberg which was floating out and out to sea. 
So he hoped that he would not be caught by old 
Killer Whale, or Great White Gull, the fierce 
pirate, or by a Sea Leopard. He watched the 
shore fade and fade, and every hour he grew 
more restless. Every hour he paced up and 
down on the iceberg, and every now and then 
he would climb to a high point to see how far 
he really was from his own dear home and 
every time he grew more alarmed. He was 
getting really very far from home for a young 
fellow who was just trying out his first bathing- 
suit, and had only that very morning taken 
his first swim. So he paced up and down faster 
and faster, and looked at the shore more and 


118 


SAFE AT HOME 


119 


more anxiously. But, at the same time, he did 
not dare go into the water to paddle home, 
for might not Killer Whale be just hiding be¬ 
hind some ice-cake to get him? And would 
he not swallow him at one big gulp? No, no, 
that would never do! At the same time, one 
could never expect his people to come after 
him in a skin canoe for they never had any 
such things. What could he do? 

Well, by and by, the sun crept down to 
the very water’s edge, then went down, down 
till he could not be seen any more, and then the 
golden snow-flakes took their places in the sky 
and twinkled, twinkled ever so brightly. They 
did cheer Mannie just a little bit, but it grew 
cold, oh, so cold! Mannie wished he was home 
in his own little bed with the covers all tucked 
in about him. And he began to grow very 
hungry, for he had been so eager to try his 
first swim that he had not waited for his break- 




120 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 



There Wasn’t a Thing to Eat on the, Iceberg 


fast. He had had no dinner and no supper, 
and here it was way late at night. There wasn’t 
a thing to eat on the iceberg, so what was he to 
do about that? 

Well, at last Mannie became more brave. 

“I might as well be caught at once by 
Killer Whale as to starve on this iceberg or be 
carried away to some strange land,” he said to 
himself, as he stumped stoutly up and down. 

“I just believe I am going to try to go 
home!” he exclaimed bravely, as he gathered in 
the corners of his bathing-suit and “splash” 
into the water he tumbled, and paddled bravely 
for shore. 





SAFE AT HOME 


121 


But it was a long, long way, and every now 
and again something black whisked along be¬ 
hind him, which he was sure must be a terrible 
Killer Whale; then again, something white 
and spotted like a Sea Leopard went swish, 
swish behind him, while great white things 
skimmed along overhead, and they were Great 
White Ivory Gull pirates, he knew. 

“I must keep going fast!” he breathed, 
looking over his shoulder, then holding his 
breath and paddling faster than ever. 

Finally, when Mannie came close to land 
he imagined that old robber Sheathbill was 
waiting to catch him and he was almost afraid 
to go right to land. He was afraid to stay in 
the sea, and afraid to go ashore! But as noth¬ 
ing came after him in the sea, and as he swam 
the shore, he discovered that what looked like 
robbers were only bits of snow shining in the 
moonlight. And so, after all, it must have been 




122 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 


that there was nothing in the sea that night 
but little black-pointed waves and little white- 
crested ones, which Mannie took for Killer 
Whale and Sea Leopard, and there was no one 
in the sky but some innocent white clouds, 
which had gone scurrying along and had 
seemed like terrible pirates. But then, we must 
remember, that Mannie was very young, and it 
was night and he was far from home. 

But at last he scrambled upon the shore 
and waddled home as fast as his legs could 
carry him. I don’t know for sure, but I think 
his mother was waiting for him with the lamp 
burning low, and that she set a cold bite out 
for him and rubbed his bruised knees with 
seal-oil ointment, and tucked him into bed at 
last, just as any loving mother should. Any¬ 
way, he found himself snugly tucked in bed 
when the sun shone again next morning. 




TO MIGRATE HOME 


ELL, son,” said Mannie Pen¬ 
guin’s father, the old Emper¬ 
or, after Mannie had had his 
breakfast, “now that you 
have tried twice going out to 
see the world for yourself, 
how do you like it?” His voice was kindly and 
not scolding a bit. 

“I don’t like it,” said Mannie, speaking 
frankly, just as a son of an emperor should 
always speak. 

“Well, then,” said his father, “supposing 
you don’t try it any more all by yourself. You 
must wait two weeks longer till all of our peo¬ 
ple have their bathing-suits done, then we will 
take a long journey to our home. Perhaps there 
won’t be much adventure about that, but when 
we are all in our winter quarters and the 
autumn work is done, then you and I shall go 



123 


124 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 



What Do You Think of That? 


on many a long winter excursion. We can’t 
leave this Antarctic land of ours as Stormy Petrel 
can, but there are a great many beautiful and 
wonderful things to see in this land of ours. 
There are God’s great moving pictures, the 
great ice-palaces, and many other things. What 
do you think of that?” 

“I think that’s wonderful!” exclaimed 
Mannie, turning a somersault in his delight. 

Well, one fine autumn day, about the first 
of April, in this strange land, all the lady Pen¬ 
guins packed their best hats in band-boxes and 
gave the boxes to their sons to carry, and all 
the emperors packed their suit-cases and car- 





TO MIGRATE HOME 


125 


ried them for themselves, and away they went 
marching toward the south, quite a stately pro¬ 
cession of them, and all feeling very good 
about the move, though I am sure Mannie 
and some of his comrades were sorry at leaving 
such a comfortable town. But then, they would 
all be coming back to it in the next spring, and 
meanwhile how about those long adventurous 
journeys which all emperors and their sons 
take in the long glorious winter time? So they 
trudged gladly along, after all, and none was 
more stately and proud than Mannie as he 
trudged along beside his wise and dignified 
father, the Emperor. 

In the distance, on a pinnacle of ice, sat 
a forlorn little figure. His chin was in his 
hand and his knees were crossed. He looked 
very much alone, indeed. It was old tramp, 
Stormy Petrel. He had no home and no family. 
There was no winter home for him and no 
summer home. He was a child of the wild sea 
wave. And he had known this little town of 




126 


THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 



“Ah! Well” Said Stormy to Himself 

people for a whole summer. He had thought 
about them a great deal, and who knows what 
he was thinking of now? 

But Stormy is a stout-hearted little wan¬ 
derer, so up he rose in the air in search of new 
fields when, joy of joys, he sighted a sail! It 
was the ship of the Geography man, who was 
going back to a land of real children of the 
human race. He was taking back a great 
many charts and maps and things to help their 
young minds with. 

“And now I’ll get to return to other seas 
in the wake of his boat!” exclaimed Stormy 
gleefully, as he speeded along. 

He was soon under the lea of the bark 
and eating happily from the rich repast spread 
out for him by the sailors, who were overjoyed 








TO MIGRATE HOME 


127 



.Stormy Petrel 


at seeing him, for said they, “It foretells a safe 
journey home. We could never be wrecked 
by Mother Carey so long as he is with us, for 
what would become of her chicken?” 

“Ah! well,” said Stormy to himself, “I 
think there is a place in the world for all of 
us, though these slow-going, steady Penguin 
folks would hardly be willing to grant that 
there was any real place for me. Life in the 
town has its trials and so does life in the coun¬ 
try, and so does life on the stormy sea, but there 
is happiness for all of us if we seek it in right 
places, but the stormy sea for me!” 




128_THE STRANGELAND BIRD LIFE 

At that, the Geography man’s ship began 
to move away from the white Antartic land, 
and the land faded and faded from sight till 
there was nothing to be seen but the dark old 
ocean everywhere, and then the sailors and 
Stormy Petrel were happiest of all, for that 
was home to them. 















































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